Take cheer, everybody! Trump says 2 million won't die of the pandemic here, so he's a hero! And he's never heard of testing shortages, so it must not be happening, eh? But somebody - aka the press, not his very own FBI - should be out there checking out all those masks and equipment that are walking out the back doors of hospitals, because how else to explain why the numbers of requests keep going up?
Locally, we in Arizona can take cheer as well. Governor Ducey is making even stronger suggestions that we should all shelter in place. Well, except for all those absolutely essential services. Which ones are those, you ask? Golf courses, nail salons, barber shops, photography stores, and pawn shops! Hooray!!!
Well, at least all those who've been laid off can find something to pawn for a tenth of its value so they can put another roll of toilet paper on the table. Or was that.....?
In slightly more reassuring news, all those ventilators which just arrived in California, broken, (Heck of a job, Brownie!) were immediately sent out for repairs and should be in hospitals very quickly. Central Park is being converted into a field hospital for overflow Covid 19 patients, and the Navy ship Comfort is approaching it's dock in New York. It did not hit Lady Liberty on the way in, by the way, thanks to excellent tugboats.
What? You weren't worried? Oh yeah, that wasn't Trump at the helm, that photo was him back a while ago in a fire truck and he wasn't allowed to actually move it, just pretend. Honk honk, steer, steer, honk.
Steve is slowly recuperating. He announced he saw two "rocks" the size of a fingernail last night before he flushed. When I made my confusion known, he clarified he meant the white part. Uhhhhh, that white half moon? The edge needing trimming? Trimming, definitely. I didn't ask, looking at my nails and seeing various lengths of white, for any further clarification. I'm not butter and apparently can no longer be further clarified. Or something. I decided to just be happy that some were passing, another step to full recovery.
We've been reaching out to people we both know down here, via phone or email. Amazing how many of them have gone north while the getting is good - or because their other state is already taking sensible precautions. I also talked to someone yesterday who lives alone and will be moving in across town with a pair of friends so they can all shelter in place without going totally bonkers for a month. Interesting idea.
Had to pick up another prescription yesterday, and decided to try out that drive through. It works exactly like an oversized bank pneumatic system: just hit the call button, identify yourself properly, and eventually you can hear it come rattling through the tube until there's a loud klunk next to you. The accompanying hiss is the machine opening itself up and pointing the container at you so you can pull it out and empty it, then send it back. Even I could follow those instructions!
I still haven't tried seriously to find toilet paper. There was a TV shot of a line of carts waiting to check out, each holding a large pack of it along with the groceries. Do I think hoarding has stopped? Does a bear shit in the Vatican? Have the idiots stopped taking cruises? Will the Wonderful Wizard of Oz ever give Trump a brain and a heart?
I figured out if you get really really bored, since March Madness was cancelled/postponed/whatever, we could start a new betting game. Like ice-out-on-Lake-X bets for northern states, this one will be when do other countries, their own virus problems under control, let us back out of here and across their borders? More points for picking which will be first. Call your bookies now, folks!
Just remember: Trump knew about this on Dec. 22. He fired the intelligence people who told him it was going to be a problem. Is this your "hero"?
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Adventures In CaronavirusLand, Episode (Lucky) 13
Cutting to the chase: Steve's just gotten home. There will be follow-ups in the next couple weeks, one to remove a stent. Now, instead of being unable to pass that giant kidney stone, he's passing the bits remaining from after lithotripsy. He assures me it's still not fun. And it should last for several days.
Meanwhile, the house got very empty while he was gone. Rich was here for a bit, doing multiple loads of laundry. I had a chance to support Steve's favorite restaurant by ordering a pair of taco salads for our supper before taking him back to the shelter. The restaurant is still hanging in there, hoping to continue with just three staff and only take-out orders.
My elephant agave turns out not to be an elephant agave. OOPS. I decided to research propagation again, making sure I actually knew what I thought I knew. Other than the name, I got the rest right. What prompted my research is that the stalk is actually blooming, waiting for bees to notice and visit. Packed jam full of little pale yellow waxy flowers, stamens hanging out to spread pollen about, they cover a patch of the stalk right now about two foot of its length, starting about a foot up above where the buds start. For some reason the bottom ones haven't opened yet. Plus there are about 8 feet of unopened buds above the flowers.
After reading about my real plant, I've started asking around for potential "parents" for some of the babies. There should be hundreds, perhaps over a thousand. Once they grow on the stalk to something over an inch around (descriptions are a bit vague here) and can be easily plucked off the stalk, they need to be planted lightly in cactus soil, watered every few days until they grow roots, then planted in the yard where they have room to spread to about a 6' circle, in partial shade. They still need TLC in the watering department for a few months. And smarter people than I will avoid planting them under the roof eaves. I figure I can find half a dozen places for babies in our yard, found one friend who thinks she can take a few, and the rest likely will be donated to garden centers who are willing to trade some of their supplies and work for income.
Eggs before they hatch, eh.
Watching the covid numbers in AZ, they almost haven't budged so far this weekend. I highly doubt that's from people staying home, but from the government agencies reporting the stats being closed. I mean, hey, Arizona. The woman in charge of handling the crisis just resigned, with a letter saying she's just a duplicate of what the Governor and his staff are doing. She also made a comment about him far exceeding his job in what he's doing. Gotta be more to this story.
Meanwhile, been busy on line and via phone, letting people know what I did or didn't know yet about Steve's status. His surgery was scheduled for 11:00 yesterday. He finally called me at 5:30. A bit of that was a delay in the schedule, but the rest was recovery. A rough one. This is his second time recently he's had a rough one after surgery, the other being for his back pain-killer implant. There's a lot of rapid heartbeats and vomiting, not how anybody should wake up.
But, most important, he's home now. Recovering, catching up on Facebook, TV, and likely sleep, knowing how hospitals are.
Meanwhile, the house got very empty while he was gone. Rich was here for a bit, doing multiple loads of laundry. I had a chance to support Steve's favorite restaurant by ordering a pair of taco salads for our supper before taking him back to the shelter. The restaurant is still hanging in there, hoping to continue with just three staff and only take-out orders.
My elephant agave turns out not to be an elephant agave. OOPS. I decided to research propagation again, making sure I actually knew what I thought I knew. Other than the name, I got the rest right. What prompted my research is that the stalk is actually blooming, waiting for bees to notice and visit. Packed jam full of little pale yellow waxy flowers, stamens hanging out to spread pollen about, they cover a patch of the stalk right now about two foot of its length, starting about a foot up above where the buds start. For some reason the bottom ones haven't opened yet. Plus there are about 8 feet of unopened buds above the flowers.
After reading about my real plant, I've started asking around for potential "parents" for some of the babies. There should be hundreds, perhaps over a thousand. Once they grow on the stalk to something over an inch around (descriptions are a bit vague here) and can be easily plucked off the stalk, they need to be planted lightly in cactus soil, watered every few days until they grow roots, then planted in the yard where they have room to spread to about a 6' circle, in partial shade. They still need TLC in the watering department for a few months. And smarter people than I will avoid planting them under the roof eaves. I figure I can find half a dozen places for babies in our yard, found one friend who thinks she can take a few, and the rest likely will be donated to garden centers who are willing to trade some of their supplies and work for income.
Eggs before they hatch, eh.
Watching the covid numbers in AZ, they almost haven't budged so far this weekend. I highly doubt that's from people staying home, but from the government agencies reporting the stats being closed. I mean, hey, Arizona. The woman in charge of handling the crisis just resigned, with a letter saying she's just a duplicate of what the Governor and his staff are doing. She also made a comment about him far exceeding his job in what he's doing. Gotta be more to this story.
Meanwhile, been busy on line and via phone, letting people know what I did or didn't know yet about Steve's status. His surgery was scheduled for 11:00 yesterday. He finally called me at 5:30. A bit of that was a delay in the schedule, but the rest was recovery. A rough one. This is his second time recently he's had a rough one after surgery, the other being for his back pain-killer implant. There's a lot of rapid heartbeats and vomiting, not how anybody should wake up.
But, most important, he's home now. Recovering, catching up on Facebook, TV, and likely sleep, knowing how hospitals are.
Friday, March 27, 2020
Adventures In Caronavirus Land, Episode 12
Good thing, I guess, this isn't episode 13.
4:40 AM:
Back from the hospital. Without Steve. Not a good start to the day.
This wasn't even the start. That was more like 1:15 AM. I woke up, unable to get back to sleep. After trying for over an hour, I gave up and came to the living room to read for a while. What kept me from going back to sleep was my desire to re-engineer this day. It's supposed to be the one where I go pick up Rich from the county jail from serving his two weeks for not having an income to pay his fine, then take him to the homeless shelter. I don't want to expose myself to everything he's been exposed to, nor do I want to send him to where he'll be exposed to even more of this current world without any kind of social distancing possible. I also won't bring him here to share whatever with us.
I haven't heard from him the while he's been there. I have no clue how it's been for him. It's possible he has to pay for phone calls, and I know he went in with no funds. No phone either, as that "grew legs" just before I picked him up two weeks ago. At least he knows my phone number. (I need my cell for calling most everybody.) I've heard crazy things about having to pay for necessities like soap while inside. Obviously, I worry. Thus, no returning to sleep. I'd gotten it planned that I was going to load everything he left the shelter with into the car, go pick him up, and drive him straight to the shelter. Maybe bring him a burger, depending. I think he expects to be driven back here to sort through his belongings before heading to the shelter, but no way. As it is, I worry about the 4 miles or so between the stops.
The teensy bottle of hand sanitizer is in the car, and he'll need to use it before getting in. I'm thinking about a wet washcloth to have him hold over his face in lieu of any mask, but not sure whether I'll feel silly about it. And kicking myself for letting myself wonder if it matters. But anything I pick up from him will be brought back to Steve, though I've planned for that too. I've told Steve - last night - that when I come in the house, he's to stay away until I strip, shower, and change clothes, and probably also Clorox wipe down the car.
Now it may not matter.
I dropped him off at the ER. We think it's a kidney stone. It's been four days now, and he's been waiting for his "insurance" to approve a referral to a urologist. Around 3:00 AM it was the last straw. The pain, formerly localized, had now traveled back to his kidney. Time to get medical attention, loath though we both were to test out our hospital's precautions against covid 19.
They took both our temperatures with a swipe across the forehead when we got in side the ER door, before letting us advance to the check-in desk. We're both fine, that way. After asking why he was there, they assured us he was going to a separate area from respiratory / fever patients. They also assured me I was not allowed. No visitors. I can see their point, and feel safer for both of us because of it. No, all of this concern is not because of panic about the virus. We're not panicked, but we just don't trust the rest of the right-wing idiots out there to have been taking it seriously enough to do their own social distancing. Fox certainly hasn't encouraged them to, nor their dear leader. And while this hospital hasn't run short of protective gear and equipment, they are rationing it for the "possible", aka inevitable surge in cases. So after making sure Steve had his phone, I returned home.
Still not sleepy.
7:30 AM:
Steve called. It's a confirmed stone, 5 mm. OUCH! They think they will keep him. It may be necessary to go in and get it out. At least I don't have to worry about him needing a ride home at the same time I'm transporting Rich.
Had a couple catnaps. Not restful. I'll probably sleep when the jobs are done. I can "stand down." Nodded off with news on, caught a couple stats. We have the ignominy of now having more (tested only) covid cases that any country in the world, nearly 86,000 now. AZ has "close to 600", morning news vague on actual stats, with over half of them in Maricopa County. Makes sense, it's Phoenix plus. Most of those so far are among younger adults.
Maybe our seniors are taking this seriously. Let's hope so. I still see the walkers passing along the sidewalks, usually by twos, but occasionally with one trailing the other by 6 feet. Those who still walk side by side appear to be couples, so one can extrapolate they're already sharing every germ that comes along. We still see traffic on the street, including those truck/trailer combinations equipped for yard work. If they're smart or lucky, most of their customers right now are snowbirds who've fled but whose yards are just as good at growing weeds as this one.
One kind of traffic is missing, oddly enough. Fire and rescue trucks like our fairly straight street as a route to everywhere, and it's typical to hear them 3 or 4 times a day. I can't recall the last one. UPS and mail seem to be on their usual schedules, though we've come up with several ideas on why mail is an hour or two earlier, and a local utility project is proceeding. Haven't driven anywhere for a few days now, till today anyway when nothing was open yet, so I have no idea if crowds at the grocery store are still there, or what's on the shelves. A friend hasn't seen TP, milk, eggs, or butter for a couple weeks. TV news shows are warning about all the wet wipes folks are using, possibly believing the "flushable" claims, and how they're clogging up the machinery.
Wouldn't you love the bonus employment of having to clean up that?
Driving past the gas station, I noticed gas prices have finally come down from $2.89.9. By a "whole" 30 cents. Prices around downtown Phoenix have been that low for over a month, a classic example of supply and demand. We seniors do not drive like everybody else as a whole. It may have taken this long for the tanks to empty enough to put in lower priced fuel. About a week ago Steve read me something from Facebook where gas was down to just over a dollar a gallon. I'm torn between envy and hoping this doesn't signal an increase in air pollution.
Speaking of, when I take garbage out after supper I check out the sky. Haven't seen a plane for about two weeks, and we're under the flight path. Either they come in over the Superstitions and leave over us, or the opposite. A normal evening the sky holds half a dozen moving lights any given time. There are still some flights however, the jets from Luke AFB. We don't have to see them to know they're up there. Our boys in blue don't worry about the noise.
11:00 AM:
Still haven't heard from Rich. Called the jail and confirmed his discharge is in process. Also made sure he will have free access to a phone to call me. So, waiting. The car is loaded with everything I can think of he might want with him. He can sort it out at the car.
Checked latest stats on virus in state. Typically they post by this time each morning. Since last numbers, overall cases went from 509 to 655, deaths from 8 to 13. 399 cases are in this county. Last stat I saw for whole country from CNN was 90,700 cases with 1347 deaths. Florida, which just couldn't bring itself to do anything about spring break, suddenly has 2,900 cases, a rise of 500 in just one day, and is just starting to put in stay home orders for part (!?!) of the state.
Now a warning?
Steve calls every couple hours. He's been given both pain meds and something that's supposed to relax the tube coming from the kidney so the stone might pass. Later he called and said surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning. He let me know his daughter has been informed so I assume the rest of his family knows as well. We're staying off the phone as much as possible so Rich can reach me.
5:00 PM:
Cases jumped to 670 in state, rise happening in outstate counties, with the same number of cases in our county as this morning. Same death toll so far, but they've clarified 5 of the deaths are from this county. By bedtime the numbers will have changed.
Rich has been delivered safely to where he needs to be. During the time we had for conversation, I brought him up to date on family and virus news, as there was no TV in the jail. We stopped in a MacDonald's parking lot so he could go through his belongings to sort what he'd take with him into the shelter, without it happening under snoopy and acquisitive eyes. There was a sign on MacDonald's door informing folks that their restroom was no longer open to anyone but employees. I warned Rich that he'd be finding a lot of that for a while.
Discussing his two weeks, he assured me there were no covid cases he was aware of, though a couple of people were in isolation just in case, waiting for symptoms to increase or vanish. When Rich heard about the loss of smell/taste symptoms, it was news to him, and he pledged to spread the news around the homeless population. His worst experience while in jail was finding out that two meals out of three had foods labeled "not for human consumption."
Is that legal? Or "just" Arizona?
He returned within the shelter's rules' timeline for returning after absence with cause, saving his bed. If he hadn't been that prompt, he would have had no bed. Not no-bed-for-a-night-or-two, but no bed. Period. The shelter has been filled with as many of the virus-vulnerable homeless people from the surrounding streets as could be crammed in, and the only open beds will result from rules violations or... well, patients leaving for the hospital or morgue. Those openings still wouldn't be for him.
Most of what Rich left in the car is old dirty laundry. He hadn't time either to or from jail to do laundry. But since he's heard buses are free right now, he plans to swing by in the morning to get it done and take back a supply of clean clothes. Steve should still be in the hospital, and I'll take precautions.
We'll have to forgo hugs though. Have to settle for loving words.
6:00 PM:
US cases now 100,700+. Deaths 1,540+.
Bedtime soon.
4:40 AM:
Back from the hospital. Without Steve. Not a good start to the day.
This wasn't even the start. That was more like 1:15 AM. I woke up, unable to get back to sleep. After trying for over an hour, I gave up and came to the living room to read for a while. What kept me from going back to sleep was my desire to re-engineer this day. It's supposed to be the one where I go pick up Rich from the county jail from serving his two weeks for not having an income to pay his fine, then take him to the homeless shelter. I don't want to expose myself to everything he's been exposed to, nor do I want to send him to where he'll be exposed to even more of this current world without any kind of social distancing possible. I also won't bring him here to share whatever with us.
I haven't heard from him the while he's been there. I have no clue how it's been for him. It's possible he has to pay for phone calls, and I know he went in with no funds. No phone either, as that "grew legs" just before I picked him up two weeks ago. At least he knows my phone number. (I need my cell for calling most everybody.) I've heard crazy things about having to pay for necessities like soap while inside. Obviously, I worry. Thus, no returning to sleep. I'd gotten it planned that I was going to load everything he left the shelter with into the car, go pick him up, and drive him straight to the shelter. Maybe bring him a burger, depending. I think he expects to be driven back here to sort through his belongings before heading to the shelter, but no way. As it is, I worry about the 4 miles or so between the stops.
The teensy bottle of hand sanitizer is in the car, and he'll need to use it before getting in. I'm thinking about a wet washcloth to have him hold over his face in lieu of any mask, but not sure whether I'll feel silly about it. And kicking myself for letting myself wonder if it matters. But anything I pick up from him will be brought back to Steve, though I've planned for that too. I've told Steve - last night - that when I come in the house, he's to stay away until I strip, shower, and change clothes, and probably also Clorox wipe down the car.
Now it may not matter.
I dropped him off at the ER. We think it's a kidney stone. It's been four days now, and he's been waiting for his "insurance" to approve a referral to a urologist. Around 3:00 AM it was the last straw. The pain, formerly localized, had now traveled back to his kidney. Time to get medical attention, loath though we both were to test out our hospital's precautions against covid 19.
They took both our temperatures with a swipe across the forehead when we got in side the ER door, before letting us advance to the check-in desk. We're both fine, that way. After asking why he was there, they assured us he was going to a separate area from respiratory / fever patients. They also assured me I was not allowed. No visitors. I can see their point, and feel safer for both of us because of it. No, all of this concern is not because of panic about the virus. We're not panicked, but we just don't trust the rest of the right-wing idiots out there to have been taking it seriously enough to do their own social distancing. Fox certainly hasn't encouraged them to, nor their dear leader. And while this hospital hasn't run short of protective gear and equipment, they are rationing it for the "possible", aka inevitable surge in cases. So after making sure Steve had his phone, I returned home.
Still not sleepy.
7:30 AM:
Steve called. It's a confirmed stone, 5 mm. OUCH! They think they will keep him. It may be necessary to go in and get it out. At least I don't have to worry about him needing a ride home at the same time I'm transporting Rich.
Had a couple catnaps. Not restful. I'll probably sleep when the jobs are done. I can "stand down." Nodded off with news on, caught a couple stats. We have the ignominy of now having more (tested only) covid cases that any country in the world, nearly 86,000 now. AZ has "close to 600", morning news vague on actual stats, with over half of them in Maricopa County. Makes sense, it's Phoenix plus. Most of those so far are among younger adults.
Maybe our seniors are taking this seriously. Let's hope so. I still see the walkers passing along the sidewalks, usually by twos, but occasionally with one trailing the other by 6 feet. Those who still walk side by side appear to be couples, so one can extrapolate they're already sharing every germ that comes along. We still see traffic on the street, including those truck/trailer combinations equipped for yard work. If they're smart or lucky, most of their customers right now are snowbirds who've fled but whose yards are just as good at growing weeds as this one.
One kind of traffic is missing, oddly enough. Fire and rescue trucks like our fairly straight street as a route to everywhere, and it's typical to hear them 3 or 4 times a day. I can't recall the last one. UPS and mail seem to be on their usual schedules, though we've come up with several ideas on why mail is an hour or two earlier, and a local utility project is proceeding. Haven't driven anywhere for a few days now, till today anyway when nothing was open yet, so I have no idea if crowds at the grocery store are still there, or what's on the shelves. A friend hasn't seen TP, milk, eggs, or butter for a couple weeks. TV news shows are warning about all the wet wipes folks are using, possibly believing the "flushable" claims, and how they're clogging up the machinery.
Wouldn't you love the bonus employment of having to clean up that?
Driving past the gas station, I noticed gas prices have finally come down from $2.89.9. By a "whole" 30 cents. Prices around downtown Phoenix have been that low for over a month, a classic example of supply and demand. We seniors do not drive like everybody else as a whole. It may have taken this long for the tanks to empty enough to put in lower priced fuel. About a week ago Steve read me something from Facebook where gas was down to just over a dollar a gallon. I'm torn between envy and hoping this doesn't signal an increase in air pollution.
Speaking of, when I take garbage out after supper I check out the sky. Haven't seen a plane for about two weeks, and we're under the flight path. Either they come in over the Superstitions and leave over us, or the opposite. A normal evening the sky holds half a dozen moving lights any given time. There are still some flights however, the jets from Luke AFB. We don't have to see them to know they're up there. Our boys in blue don't worry about the noise.
11:00 AM:
Still haven't heard from Rich. Called the jail and confirmed his discharge is in process. Also made sure he will have free access to a phone to call me. So, waiting. The car is loaded with everything I can think of he might want with him. He can sort it out at the car.
Checked latest stats on virus in state. Typically they post by this time each morning. Since last numbers, overall cases went from 509 to 655, deaths from 8 to 13. 399 cases are in this county. Last stat I saw for whole country from CNN was 90,700 cases with 1347 deaths. Florida, which just couldn't bring itself to do anything about spring break, suddenly has 2,900 cases, a rise of 500 in just one day, and is just starting to put in stay home orders for part (!?!) of the state.
Now a warning?
Steve calls every couple hours. He's been given both pain meds and something that's supposed to relax the tube coming from the kidney so the stone might pass. Later he called and said surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning. He let me know his daughter has been informed so I assume the rest of his family knows as well. We're staying off the phone as much as possible so Rich can reach me.
5:00 PM:
Cases jumped to 670 in state, rise happening in outstate counties, with the same number of cases in our county as this morning. Same death toll so far, but they've clarified 5 of the deaths are from this county. By bedtime the numbers will have changed.
Rich has been delivered safely to where he needs to be. During the time we had for conversation, I brought him up to date on family and virus news, as there was no TV in the jail. We stopped in a MacDonald's parking lot so he could go through his belongings to sort what he'd take with him into the shelter, without it happening under snoopy and acquisitive eyes. There was a sign on MacDonald's door informing folks that their restroom was no longer open to anyone but employees. I warned Rich that he'd be finding a lot of that for a while.
Discussing his two weeks, he assured me there were no covid cases he was aware of, though a couple of people were in isolation just in case, waiting for symptoms to increase or vanish. When Rich heard about the loss of smell/taste symptoms, it was news to him, and he pledged to spread the news around the homeless population. His worst experience while in jail was finding out that two meals out of three had foods labeled "not for human consumption."
Is that legal? Or "just" Arizona?
He returned within the shelter's rules' timeline for returning after absence with cause, saving his bed. If he hadn't been that prompt, he would have had no bed. Not no-bed-for-a-night-or-two, but no bed. Period. The shelter has been filled with as many of the virus-vulnerable homeless people from the surrounding streets as could be crammed in, and the only open beds will result from rules violations or... well, patients leaving for the hospital or morgue. Those openings still wouldn't be for him.
Most of what Rich left in the car is old dirty laundry. He hadn't time either to or from jail to do laundry. But since he's heard buses are free right now, he plans to swing by in the morning to get it done and take back a supply of clean clothes. Steve should still be in the hospital, and I'll take precautions.
We'll have to forgo hugs though. Have to settle for loving words.
6:00 PM:
US cases now 100,700+. Deaths 1,540+.
Bedtime soon.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Adventures In Caronavirus Land, Episode 11
I can still smell. No, I didn't say "stink." We've already established that. It's never been in question. I'm saying my nose works. Other than a couple times post-surgeries, it's always been pretty good. It comes from Mom. She was always the first in the family to smell something. Growing up, it was one of those things that just was. Ho hum, boring.
Mine came into its own during my first pregnancy, when suddenly the whole olfactory world twisted. Everything I previously loved was suddenly nauseating. Literally. Nine months of morning/afternoon/evening sickness. That was for each ten-month gestation, and became my own positive pregnancy test for the three kids, having never actually had a positive test. Barf? Pregnant again. Somehow it all never kept me from gaining weight, though. Dang!
The post surgery olfactory slump turned out to be a favor, since food also lost it's grip and I began a very slow weight loss. Stress seems to have the opposite effect, of course. I'd almost welcome it back, except we've just learned that loss of smell and taste is one of the symptoms of the virus, possibly the only one in otherwise asymptomatic people. While we just learned it, already one of the CBS national morning news anchors is self quarantining due to exposure to somebody who just lost those senses. Let's hope the news spreads more widely than the virus.
Another tidbit is getting traction. There is a thermometer company, Kinsa, with an accompanying app on people's smart phones. Those phones send the data to the company. They've been tracking fevers in relation to flu outbreaks for a while. Somebody noticed new patterns in the spikes, and figured out how to weed out the "normal" flu fever data and compare the results to covid 19 statistics. The non-typical fever spikes preceded by a few days the rise in covid 19 statistics.
They've mapped their data. Rachel Maddow showed it Tuesday night. Two things stood out for me, personally. Florida is showing the highest spike right now, and they haven't yet ordered any kind of stay-home orders. Spring break....
The other thing was contrasting Minnesota and Arizona data. Minnesota was in the lowest fevers category. Arizona showed a low (1st tier) level of fevers, again in a state with no actual stay home orders yet, though piecemeal things like schools out have been happening. However, the color showed up on our state's map covering a very wide swath from north to south borders. By "wide swath" I mean all but a very narrow band along the east and west borders.
Think we're going to continue hunkering down, as much as possible. AZ reported "only" 8 deaths in morning news, with 508 verified cases, but our curve is angling up. Exponentially. Compound interest.
Oh, the great grandson was 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and 19-point-something inches. I forget exactly, and Steve's sleeping. He got the text. He also got pictures which, amazingly for a newborn, capture his eyes open. He is adorable. Of course.
Talked to a friend from Minnesota a bit ago. She and her husband have both been sick. all the symptoms of covid 19 except their fevers weren't "high enough." They asked for a test, but were refused. Not enough tests around to"waste" them. With my new knowledge, I asked and verified they both had lost smell and taste for the duration. But we'll never know now what it was. She's had flu several times over the years, but never as bad as this. I filled her in on the progress being made for finding a test for antibodies to establish who had it without knowing, and may now be immune. He'd love to be able to return to work. So far their sons are showing no symptoms of anything, except boredom. Teenagers.
Pure plagiarism from the internet, reaction to the "seniors should sacrifice" idiocy, coupled with the alleged Christianity of those spouting it. It was in comments on Daily Kos Tuesday, but I can't relocate the exact article and commenter for attribution. Sorry. So something like this:
For God so loved the Market that he sent his only Son, for whosoever believeth in their banker should not perish but have everlasting wealth. John $3.16.
State prisoners are being sent to an egg farm to work, and will be housed there. A pizza joint offers toilet paper with pizza. The favorite local Mexican restaurant has a free taco salad when you buy one, and now will take credit cards despite years of refusing them. Congress is offering hope... for some. The President declares himself a war president but doesn't bother to use his "war powers" to ramp up production of ventilators or personal protective equipment, while refrigerator trucks collect and store bodies. Mississippi's idiot governor refuses to ask people to change their habits. Against all logic, 59% of people polled actually approve of Trump's handling of the pandemic.
And you're still reading this.
Go figure.
Mine came into its own during my first pregnancy, when suddenly the whole olfactory world twisted. Everything I previously loved was suddenly nauseating. Literally. Nine months of morning/afternoon/evening sickness. That was for each ten-month gestation, and became my own positive pregnancy test for the three kids, having never actually had a positive test. Barf? Pregnant again. Somehow it all never kept me from gaining weight, though. Dang!
The post surgery olfactory slump turned out to be a favor, since food also lost it's grip and I began a very slow weight loss. Stress seems to have the opposite effect, of course. I'd almost welcome it back, except we've just learned that loss of smell and taste is one of the symptoms of the virus, possibly the only one in otherwise asymptomatic people. While we just learned it, already one of the CBS national morning news anchors is self quarantining due to exposure to somebody who just lost those senses. Let's hope the news spreads more widely than the virus.
Another tidbit is getting traction. There is a thermometer company, Kinsa, with an accompanying app on people's smart phones. Those phones send the data to the company. They've been tracking fevers in relation to flu outbreaks for a while. Somebody noticed new patterns in the spikes, and figured out how to weed out the "normal" flu fever data and compare the results to covid 19 statistics. The non-typical fever spikes preceded by a few days the rise in covid 19 statistics.
They've mapped their data. Rachel Maddow showed it Tuesday night. Two things stood out for me, personally. Florida is showing the highest spike right now, and they haven't yet ordered any kind of stay-home orders. Spring break....
The other thing was contrasting Minnesota and Arizona data. Minnesota was in the lowest fevers category. Arizona showed a low (1st tier) level of fevers, again in a state with no actual stay home orders yet, though piecemeal things like schools out have been happening. However, the color showed up on our state's map covering a very wide swath from north to south borders. By "wide swath" I mean all but a very narrow band along the east and west borders.
Think we're going to continue hunkering down, as much as possible. AZ reported "only" 8 deaths in morning news, with 508 verified cases, but our curve is angling up. Exponentially. Compound interest.
Oh, the great grandson was 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and 19-point-something inches. I forget exactly, and Steve's sleeping. He got the text. He also got pictures which, amazingly for a newborn, capture his eyes open. He is adorable. Of course.
Talked to a friend from Minnesota a bit ago. She and her husband have both been sick. all the symptoms of covid 19 except their fevers weren't "high enough." They asked for a test, but were refused. Not enough tests around to"waste" them. With my new knowledge, I asked and verified they both had lost smell and taste for the duration. But we'll never know now what it was. She's had flu several times over the years, but never as bad as this. I filled her in on the progress being made for finding a test for antibodies to establish who had it without knowing, and may now be immune. He'd love to be able to return to work. So far their sons are showing no symptoms of anything, except boredom. Teenagers.
Pure plagiarism from the internet, reaction to the "seniors should sacrifice" idiocy, coupled with the alleged Christianity of those spouting it. It was in comments on Daily Kos Tuesday, but I can't relocate the exact article and commenter for attribution. Sorry. So something like this:
For God so loved the Market that he sent his only Son, for whosoever believeth in their banker should not perish but have everlasting wealth. John $3.16.
State prisoners are being sent to an egg farm to work, and will be housed there. A pizza joint offers toilet paper with pizza. The favorite local Mexican restaurant has a free taco salad when you buy one, and now will take credit cards despite years of refusing them. Congress is offering hope... for some. The President declares himself a war president but doesn't bother to use his "war powers" to ramp up production of ventilators or personal protective equipment, while refrigerator trucks collect and store bodies. Mississippi's idiot governor refuses to ask people to change their habits. Against all logic, 59% of people polled actually approve of Trump's handling of the pandemic.
And you're still reading this.
Go figure.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Adventures In Caronavirus Land, Episode 10
It's hard to stay calm right now. No, not cabin fever. It's the naked avarice "trumping" humanity and science in the face of this pandemic.
Not Dying For Wall Street. It's trending right now, in all but the halls of Republican power. But people are still drinking the kool-aid. Patriotic seniors should die to save the economy? This from the mouths of those shameless enough to claim the the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, included "Death Panels."
Have Republicans become the party of sociopaths? Then again, that's become a rhetorical question. I'm just reluctant enough to answer it out loud because I still hope the tiniest bit that there can be a "no" answer to it.
That tiniest bit is rapidly shrinking.
I'm not willing to die for Wall Street. I'm OK with staying home for a good while. (Putting off resigning myself to needing to cancel summer plans yet.) Sure, stress eating has risen it's chubby head. Those applesauce/banana pancakes were delicious! Steve helped eat them, but of the box of mix, 5 lonely cakes huddle in the refrigerator waiting to rejoin their fellows.
I'm not feeling stifled by staying in. I'm furious, but by the idiocy and avarice of others. Dare I hope, if the nincompoop-in-chief tells us to go back to work and shopping, that enough Governors will show they are smarter and have better values systems, enough to reject it? This only works if we all participate, but it's patchwork stupidity.
There are small comforts other than face stuffing. The great grand baby should be born by now, but we're waiting to hear. Mom was sent home for a bit, returning to the hospital today. Last word was an emergency caesarean, but her father, our family source, is kept miles away. If I can judge from my own emergency back in '76, the baby is delivered in about a minute and a half, and Mom is put back together in about an hour and a half. So we're optimistically waiting.
More people are reaching out via email and phone. The weather is nice, with systems blowing through carrying just enough clouds to provide a spot of color around suppertime. Some of the sprayed weeds are visibly dying. The pulled thistles, the ones I was too tired to throw away properly so just left in the carport, got carried away by something, presumably for dinner, so I never had to pick them up. The pricker tip in my finger from them worked its way out by itself. Harvey Weinstein has contracted covid 19 and I almost wasted a full second wondering if I was terrible for not really caring? Tuesday is mail ads day, a scoopful of flyers shoved through the slot, the one notable thing today being our local grocery story didn't waste money on what they might not still have to sell by the time we get there. And all our sniffles, sneezes, and coughs can be written off to allergies as the pollen blows in accompanied by the fragrance of orange blossoms. Nobody has a fever. Best, we still love each other.
Not Dying For Wall Street. It's trending right now, in all but the halls of Republican power. But people are still drinking the kool-aid. Patriotic seniors should die to save the economy? This from the mouths of those shameless enough to claim the the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, included "Death Panels."
Have Republicans become the party of sociopaths? Then again, that's become a rhetorical question. I'm just reluctant enough to answer it out loud because I still hope the tiniest bit that there can be a "no" answer to it.
That tiniest bit is rapidly shrinking.
I'm not willing to die for Wall Street. I'm OK with staying home for a good while. (Putting off resigning myself to needing to cancel summer plans yet.) Sure, stress eating has risen it's chubby head. Those applesauce/banana pancakes were delicious! Steve helped eat them, but of the box of mix, 5 lonely cakes huddle in the refrigerator waiting to rejoin their fellows.
I'm not feeling stifled by staying in. I'm furious, but by the idiocy and avarice of others. Dare I hope, if the nincompoop-in-chief tells us to go back to work and shopping, that enough Governors will show they are smarter and have better values systems, enough to reject it? This only works if we all participate, but it's patchwork stupidity.
There are small comforts other than face stuffing. The great grand baby should be born by now, but we're waiting to hear. Mom was sent home for a bit, returning to the hospital today. Last word was an emergency caesarean, but her father, our family source, is kept miles away. If I can judge from my own emergency back in '76, the baby is delivered in about a minute and a half, and Mom is put back together in about an hour and a half. So we're optimistically waiting.
More people are reaching out via email and phone. The weather is nice, with systems blowing through carrying just enough clouds to provide a spot of color around suppertime. Some of the sprayed weeds are visibly dying. The pulled thistles, the ones I was too tired to throw away properly so just left in the carport, got carried away by something, presumably for dinner, so I never had to pick them up. The pricker tip in my finger from them worked its way out by itself. Harvey Weinstein has contracted covid 19 and I almost wasted a full second wondering if I was terrible for not really caring? Tuesday is mail ads day, a scoopful of flyers shoved through the slot, the one notable thing today being our local grocery story didn't waste money on what they might not still have to sell by the time we get there. And all our sniffles, sneezes, and coughs can be written off to allergies as the pollen blows in accompanied by the fragrance of orange blossoms. Nobody has a fever. Best, we still love each other.
Monday, March 23, 2020
Adventures In ... I'm Sick Of This Title, Aren't You?
Raspberries galore!
No, not in the grocery stores, though I can't attest to that, having stayed away. These are the kinds I make in my mouth for bad behavior. I do it from the safety - for me and them - of my living room. I don't care to share microbes, from either direction.
You're welcome.
First, to Sen. Rand Paul. After finding out he was exposed to covid 19, he got tested. BUT while waiting for results, he mingled and mingled and mingled.... Now he's tested positive. I'm not even sure I should feel relieved that most of his mingling occurred among Republican Senators. We'll still need a quorum to pass necessary legislation. So P-p-p-p-f-f-f-f-f-t-t-t-t-t-t-t! Twice!
Second, to those thousands and thousands in this area who figured out the only way to aleviate their cabin fever was to go out on the hiking trails with 5,000 of their closest ... uh ... germ wagons over this weekend. TV footage shows there was absolutely no possibility of maintaining two feet of distance between hikers.
Wait. What? Six feet? P-p-p-p-f-f-f-f-t-t-t-t-t-t-t! I'd offer to do it 5,000 times, but haven't the energy any more.
I just vacuumed the living room, after all.
FYI the vacuum is currently parked in the living room where I can see it because I don't have to feel guilty about not vacuuming any more. Although, I can now look at it and feel guilty about not emptying the canister again, since it's half full. OK, OK, I told you the living room needed vacuuming, didn't I? Well, I vacuumed it, so there.
Turned on the TV this morning because that's what I do. Arizona stats are really climbing now, and our (Republican, don'cha know) Governor hasn't yet given the stay-home order, though he has written the feds begging for assistance in controlling the virus. Schools are closed and no groups more than 10. 10? What good is that? We need to quit this stupidity. Soon, I hope. Though I have to go pick up a prescription refill soon. Been postponing that in favor of... whatever. Any which whatever. On the plus side, I may not need to find the drive-up window after all, because I also am thinking about applesauce. Yep, once thwarted, twice obsessed. And while I'm there, see if TP has arrived, and eggs, and the summer sausage they carry, bananas, milk, and, hmmm, ice cream is getting low....
I won't bother looking for hand sanitizer. I ordered some about ten days ago through Amazon, and it's been shipped. Guaranteed to be here, uhh, let's see... mid May! Yee-haaaaaa!
* * * * *
Post-shopping observations:
My route to Walmart passes a school. Though closed, I found myself obeying the flashing speed limit sign, wondering as I did whether it was sillier that it was still flashing or that I was paying attention. Probably always better to be safe.
I always pass a couple banks and credit unions. While my CU in MN has let me know repeatedly they are only open for drive-through or electronic banking, the ones down here seem to be doing a booming walk-in business. Hey, but no germs on money, eh? What, really? Dang! I'll have to quit spending it.
Shopper levels are down a bit, if the ability to find a spot in the shade in Arizona is any indication. I did drive around the store first, to find that pharmacy drive-through. They located it on the north end, about as far in any direction away from the pharmacy as it's possible to get in that store. It had a line though. Adding that to my having a list of other things, I parked in the lot and went in for all of it.
While you still can't buy hand sanitizer in the store, there is a prominent display near the carts for hand and cart wipes. For my first time, I used them. For both. Well, technically, I used three. That's how many pulled out before disconnecting from the dispenses. Best not to waste. They'd just dry out waiting for the next customer. Right?
There were three people I saw with masks on. Gotta wonder if they're sick and trying not to spread it? Or still think it will protect them from the rest of us, just in case?
I did find what I thought I would on my list. Butter was in, slight surprise. TP not. No shock there. I asked a clerk when they might get that in. It comes around 2 PM daily. People start to line up by the shipping / delivery door around 1 PM. The ice cream in my cart, plus my personal inclinations, nixed that kind of wait. Lucky I don't need any yet. Butter, eggs, milk, applesauce and summer sausage were available. Eggs were the only ones with "limit 1" signs. Good thing they meant cartons and not eggs. I did get two hand of bananas since that rack was full and some were overripe. While many of the spaces for processed meats, i.e. lunch meats, hot dogs, etc., there was a large stack of summer sausages so I didn't feel guilty about getting two of them also. It's hard in normal times to find more than two or three in the store, and often none , so it was an unexpected bounty.
Once home, the freezer didn't quite have space for the ice cream. I made the ultimate sacrifice and finished up the old one to make room. Ahhhhhhhhh....
Hard times, my way.
Just heard, the our great-grandson is on the way to the hospital to get born.
No, not in the grocery stores, though I can't attest to that, having stayed away. These are the kinds I make in my mouth for bad behavior. I do it from the safety - for me and them - of my living room. I don't care to share microbes, from either direction.
You're welcome.
First, to Sen. Rand Paul. After finding out he was exposed to covid 19, he got tested. BUT while waiting for results, he mingled and mingled and mingled.... Now he's tested positive. I'm not even sure I should feel relieved that most of his mingling occurred among Republican Senators. We'll still need a quorum to pass necessary legislation. So P-p-p-p-f-f-f-f-f-t-t-t-t-t-t-t! Twice!
Second, to those thousands and thousands in this area who figured out the only way to aleviate their cabin fever was to go out on the hiking trails with 5,000 of their closest ... uh ... germ wagons over this weekend. TV footage shows there was absolutely no possibility of maintaining two feet of distance between hikers.
Wait. What? Six feet? P-p-p-p-f-f-f-f-t-t-t-t-t-t-t! I'd offer to do it 5,000 times, but haven't the energy any more.
I just vacuumed the living room, after all.
FYI the vacuum is currently parked in the living room where I can see it because I don't have to feel guilty about not vacuuming any more. Although, I can now look at it and feel guilty about not emptying the canister again, since it's half full. OK, OK, I told you the living room needed vacuuming, didn't I? Well, I vacuumed it, so there.
Turned on the TV this morning because that's what I do. Arizona stats are really climbing now, and our (Republican, don'cha know) Governor hasn't yet given the stay-home order, though he has written the feds begging for assistance in controlling the virus. Schools are closed and no groups more than 10. 10? What good is that? We need to quit this stupidity. Soon, I hope. Though I have to go pick up a prescription refill soon. Been postponing that in favor of... whatever. Any which whatever. On the plus side, I may not need to find the drive-up window after all, because I also am thinking about applesauce. Yep, once thwarted, twice obsessed. And while I'm there, see if TP has arrived, and eggs, and the summer sausage they carry, bananas, milk, and, hmmm, ice cream is getting low....
I won't bother looking for hand sanitizer. I ordered some about ten days ago through Amazon, and it's been shipped. Guaranteed to be here, uhh, let's see... mid May! Yee-haaaaaa!
* * * * *
Post-shopping observations:
My route to Walmart passes a school. Though closed, I found myself obeying the flashing speed limit sign, wondering as I did whether it was sillier that it was still flashing or that I was paying attention. Probably always better to be safe.
I always pass a couple banks and credit unions. While my CU in MN has let me know repeatedly they are only open for drive-through or electronic banking, the ones down here seem to be doing a booming walk-in business. Hey, but no germs on money, eh? What, really? Dang! I'll have to quit spending it.
Shopper levels are down a bit, if the ability to find a spot in the shade in Arizona is any indication. I did drive around the store first, to find that pharmacy drive-through. They located it on the north end, about as far in any direction away from the pharmacy as it's possible to get in that store. It had a line though. Adding that to my having a list of other things, I parked in the lot and went in for all of it.
While you still can't buy hand sanitizer in the store, there is a prominent display near the carts for hand and cart wipes. For my first time, I used them. For both. Well, technically, I used three. That's how many pulled out before disconnecting from the dispenses. Best not to waste. They'd just dry out waiting for the next customer. Right?
There were three people I saw with masks on. Gotta wonder if they're sick and trying not to spread it? Or still think it will protect them from the rest of us, just in case?
I did find what I thought I would on my list. Butter was in, slight surprise. TP not. No shock there. I asked a clerk when they might get that in. It comes around 2 PM daily. People start to line up by the shipping / delivery door around 1 PM. The ice cream in my cart, plus my personal inclinations, nixed that kind of wait. Lucky I don't need any yet. Butter, eggs, milk, applesauce and summer sausage were available. Eggs were the only ones with "limit 1" signs. Good thing they meant cartons and not eggs. I did get two hand of bananas since that rack was full and some were overripe. While many of the spaces for processed meats, i.e. lunch meats, hot dogs, etc., there was a large stack of summer sausages so I didn't feel guilty about getting two of them also. It's hard in normal times to find more than two or three in the store, and often none , so it was an unexpected bounty.
Once home, the freezer didn't quite have space for the ice cream. I made the ultimate sacrifice and finished up the old one to make room. Ahhhhhhhhh....
Hard times, my way.
Just heard, the our great-grandson is on the way to the hospital to get born.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Adventures In Caronavirus Land, Episode ...?
Which one is this exactly? Or are we past the point where counting episodes matters. Some of you are still reading, though. Nothing better to do either?
Sunday. Day of rest. If that's your belief. For others, Saturday. Or Friday. When you're retired, it's hard to pick out one that distinguishes itself from others.
Mine started out restful. Woke up after 7 hours sleep, did the necessary, went back to sleep. @ hours later, Woke again. Got up. Got dressed. Watched some TV. Slept in my chair.
Steve had been online and shared a whine from some local person about them closing down the centers and ball courts/fields, but letting the golf courses stay open. Hey, lady, it's so much easier to keep your "social distance" on a golf course and clustered around the bocce balls, eh? They haven't closed the sidewalks to walking either. I've even seen - gasp! - couples trudging along together! Life just ain't fair.
(Hmmm, frustration!!! I was going to put something snarky about Trump and walking/riding around golf courses here. It sounded wonderful in my head while I was in the shower, but I've totally spaced all but the plan to do it. Dang!)
I'd had big plans for breakfast. I buy add-water-only pancake mix. Never have to worry about having the right number of eggs or amount of milk. I like to add fruit(s) to the mix first, then water to the right consistency. Today's plan was applesauce and cinnamon. No applesauce in the pantry, and not gonna go out for some. Found peaches, apparently canned a decade ago because once I used the can opener I discovered something almost black inside.
Forget the dang pancakes! Nuked a frozen breakfast sandwich instead, after removing that glop they call cheese.
After that third nap, though, I felt ambitious. I'd sprayed weeds again yesterday until my back complained that I was bending over too long in order to make sure that tiny stream hit something green. Whole patches of them were still out there, mocking me. Patches which were sprayed before the last rain were showing generous new growth between the dying bits. Time to go back to work. I finished the remains in both sprayers, then hunted through the house for the concentrate to mix another gallon.
Bet you think I had it in hand, eh? Well.... I'm gonna remember next time to put the water in the mixing tank before I add the chemical. Seems it foams up when the water splashes in, so there have to be several pauses before enough water can be added to make the proportions right. But I did finally figure out how to get the vacuum canister come off for emptying, and go back on while I was waiting. It's now in the living room, tucked behind me where I don't have to look at it and feel guilty about not using it.
But the yard did get fully covered this time. Seems that if I use the widest stream, covering patches rather than plants, it's really quick and I don't have to bend over to see just where each little plant is to be sure it's wet.
There was one puzzle, however. What does it say when a neighbor who hasn't acknowledged you for several years yells a "Hello" across the street? Is it a kind of "Hey, we're all still alive here" kind of a thing as we wait out this virus? Or is it some passive-aggressive way of letting you know it's well past time you took care of those weeds?
We have two spiny cactus in the yard. That's if you can count the roof over the patio as "yard." There's no trough there to move rain aside, just a flat plate across the end of the metal roof. It catches pine needles in the tiny gap where you thought it was flush. And a cactus seed as well, apparently. It's been there for years, possible since before we moved in but just didn't notice. It's been pulled out several times. A year or so later, there it is again, laughing at us. Spiny as heck. I'm not going to be the one pulling it out, no sirree. Uh-uh. Not even with gloves and tongs. Nope. Not me.
The second one popped up in the front yard, about two feet away from the driveway. It's so tiny, nobody believed me when I said it was there. They couldn't find it. When I went out to point it out, I couldn't either. Then next time, it was there again. I mentally marked its spot against other things in the yard, like the sunken garbage can, driveway lines, or another plant. When I looked for it again, I still couldn't find it. Finally some piece of fluffy white something lodged in the rocks a few inches away, and that became my marker for it, until it blew away again.
I'd asked Rich to please remove it for us last summer. It hadn't gotten done, but I hadn't seen it either to notice. Until I did again. Now it's got two fat little (spiny) pads on it, and three somethings coming out of them. Not sure if those are new growth or flowers. I have pictures now, proof of something or other. I think about putting a stake in the yard, though whether to warn people or just help me find it again I haven't decided. I want to see what it does, though. I'm still amazed at how something green can hide in reddish rocks. But I can nearly always find it now! And I'm pretty sure I didn't spray it. I think.
I took a wonderful shower after the spraying was finished. It seemed wise, not just because I was sweaty and a tad rank. OK, OK, I admit it: really rank! There, you happy? I've seen the ads on the TV about the chemical weed killer causing cancer and killing you too, green or not, but you can collect $$ before you croak. Or some such message. I've been using it for years, but figure if it's going to be cancer, it'll be 4 years of training managers in an unventilated dry cleaners back in the '80s that'll do it to me first. Or maybe the caronavirus will beat them both to it. Still, I'm smelling a lot better now, so it's safe for you to read this! (Sniff sniff) Just checking. Yep, safe.
Sunday. Day of rest. If that's your belief. For others, Saturday. Or Friday. When you're retired, it's hard to pick out one that distinguishes itself from others.
Mine started out restful. Woke up after 7 hours sleep, did the necessary, went back to sleep. @ hours later, Woke again. Got up. Got dressed. Watched some TV. Slept in my chair.
Steve had been online and shared a whine from some local person about them closing down the centers and ball courts/fields, but letting the golf courses stay open. Hey, lady, it's so much easier to keep your "social distance" on a golf course and clustered around the bocce balls, eh? They haven't closed the sidewalks to walking either. I've even seen - gasp! - couples trudging along together! Life just ain't fair.
(Hmmm, frustration!!! I was going to put something snarky about Trump and walking/riding around golf courses here. It sounded wonderful in my head while I was in the shower, but I've totally spaced all but the plan to do it. Dang!)
I'd had big plans for breakfast. I buy add-water-only pancake mix. Never have to worry about having the right number of eggs or amount of milk. I like to add fruit(s) to the mix first, then water to the right consistency. Today's plan was applesauce and cinnamon. No applesauce in the pantry, and not gonna go out for some. Found peaches, apparently canned a decade ago because once I used the can opener I discovered something almost black inside.
Forget the dang pancakes! Nuked a frozen breakfast sandwich instead, after removing that glop they call cheese.
After that third nap, though, I felt ambitious. I'd sprayed weeds again yesterday until my back complained that I was bending over too long in order to make sure that tiny stream hit something green. Whole patches of them were still out there, mocking me. Patches which were sprayed before the last rain were showing generous new growth between the dying bits. Time to go back to work. I finished the remains in both sprayers, then hunted through the house for the concentrate to mix another gallon.
Bet you think I had it in hand, eh? Well.... I'm gonna remember next time to put the water in the mixing tank before I add the chemical. Seems it foams up when the water splashes in, so there have to be several pauses before enough water can be added to make the proportions right. But I did finally figure out how to get the vacuum canister come off for emptying, and go back on while I was waiting. It's now in the living room, tucked behind me where I don't have to look at it and feel guilty about not using it.
But the yard did get fully covered this time. Seems that if I use the widest stream, covering patches rather than plants, it's really quick and I don't have to bend over to see just where each little plant is to be sure it's wet.
There was one puzzle, however. What does it say when a neighbor who hasn't acknowledged you for several years yells a "Hello" across the street? Is it a kind of "Hey, we're all still alive here" kind of a thing as we wait out this virus? Or is it some passive-aggressive way of letting you know it's well past time you took care of those weeds?
We have two spiny cactus in the yard. That's if you can count the roof over the patio as "yard." There's no trough there to move rain aside, just a flat plate across the end of the metal roof. It catches pine needles in the tiny gap where you thought it was flush. And a cactus seed as well, apparently. It's been there for years, possible since before we moved in but just didn't notice. It's been pulled out several times. A year or so later, there it is again, laughing at us. Spiny as heck. I'm not going to be the one pulling it out, no sirree. Uh-uh. Not even with gloves and tongs. Nope. Not me.
The second one popped up in the front yard, about two feet away from the driveway. It's so tiny, nobody believed me when I said it was there. They couldn't find it. When I went out to point it out, I couldn't either. Then next time, it was there again. I mentally marked its spot against other things in the yard, like the sunken garbage can, driveway lines, or another plant. When I looked for it again, I still couldn't find it. Finally some piece of fluffy white something lodged in the rocks a few inches away, and that became my marker for it, until it blew away again.
I'd asked Rich to please remove it for us last summer. It hadn't gotten done, but I hadn't seen it either to notice. Until I did again. Now it's got two fat little (spiny) pads on it, and three somethings coming out of them. Not sure if those are new growth or flowers. I have pictures now, proof of something or other. I think about putting a stake in the yard, though whether to warn people or just help me find it again I haven't decided. I want to see what it does, though. I'm still amazed at how something green can hide in reddish rocks. But I can nearly always find it now! And I'm pretty sure I didn't spray it. I think.
I took a wonderful shower after the spraying was finished. It seemed wise, not just because I was sweaty and a tad rank. OK, OK, I admit it: really rank! There, you happy? I've seen the ads on the TV about the chemical weed killer causing cancer and killing you too, green or not, but you can collect $$ before you croak. Or some such message. I've been using it for years, but figure if it's going to be cancer, it'll be 4 years of training managers in an unventilated dry cleaners back in the '80s that'll do it to me first. Or maybe the caronavirus will beat them both to it. Still, I'm smelling a lot better now, so it's safe for you to read this! (Sniff sniff) Just checking. Yep, safe.
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Adventures In Caronavirus Land, Episode 7
Yay-y-y-y-y! Happy Spring! Time to put the X-mas lights back up, everybody!
What? Not doing it in your part of the world? Is Phoenix the only crazy place? More than normally crazy, that is? They're putting them up in neighborhoods - supposedly, according to TV - and in shopping and restaurant areas where there is no traffic. The claims are it's something for the bored to do, something for the rest of us when we're out and about but keeping our social distance of course - to feel cheery about.
I'm going for stupid, personally. Sounds like a good idea until you figure out who just won't keep their distance or can't if it really attracts attention.
Kinda like that now-viral video of the cute little white dog being walked down the street with the leash attached to a drone. Good idea until it's not, and then it's horrible. What happens when that big mean dog runs out to challenge the little dog? How can a drone deal with that? Crash? That all you got? A drone is gonna chase away the big dog? Or the car that doesn't see either drone nor dog? Or some twerp finds it funny to yank on the leash? Has the drone the power to turn the pooch around? Stop the twerp? Seriously, anything that powerful would also be illegal. Mourn your pooch from jail, where your new BFFs are happily sharing all their germs with you.
For the record, other than twice yesterday, there is yet no recurrence of fever. Protest was canceled, though I notified our leader that I was staying home regardless. I checked with my Walmart pharmacy when I got one of those robot messages about refilling a prescription, and was informed it was OK for me to show up for it because they now have drive-through. Who knew? And where? The pharmacy is in the front of the store and I've seen no indication on the front of the building of any spot to accommodate a drive thru. Guess I'll do a drive-around and see where it might be. Logistics would be interesting though. Somebody has to hike them across the store to wherever for each customer? Way to limit your exposure, staff! We want you to keep healthy!!!!
I've developed my own "hack," if you will, for avoiding Starbucks prices and still getting my own delicious (for me at least, never actually tried Starbucks) mocha to start my mornings. Mind you, it's not an every day thing any more, since I'm actually quasi-listening to my cardiologist and reducing caffeine. I buy instant coffee and Swiss Miss's sugar free cocoa mix in the can. They get dumped together - 7 ox. coffee crystals and two 10.6 oz. cans cocoa - into a repurposed large peanut butter jar. Along with a spoon that fits. (Spoon goes in first or never. Too packed. When returning it, I find it helps to push the spoon down while shaking the jar lightly so the packed powder moves. Not so hard you get a faceful, or counter full. Or floor full. I mean that last would be a pure crime!) I do my best to be sure they are blended evenly.
However, a couple spoonfuls later or a shake of the jar and I see the large coffee crystals rising to the top. That happens to any mix of solids as the little bits filter down through the cracks. If uncorrected, my mocha mix becomes unbalanced, both in flavor and caffeine. For months I've looked at it and thought I should dump it all into a flour sifter and break down the coffee. And looked at it. And thought.
Today, somewhere beyond bored, and sick of virus figures and presidential BS, I went ahead and did it.
Amazing what can catch your attention in these times, eh?
I've been on the phone a bit more than usual. Saw an article in National Geographic and passed on two words of information to my daughter: Kokopelli Trail. Not for her, but my son-in-law. This is a bike trail that goes from Colorado, along the Colorado River, into Moab, Utah. Or vice versa. He loves long distance bicycle trips and is also - among other things - a professional photographer. Additionally he likes camping and has a circle of like-minded friends. When things simmer down, he might appreciate this information.
It caught my attention because of series of crime fiction books by Rich Curtin set in Moab with a deputy as the main character. The descriptions of scenery have prodded both Steve and myself to schedule more time in the area than "just" Arches for our summer trip north. The trail itself doesn't appeal, of course, since our touring will be by car, but our immediate thought went to Ben. The picture in the article showed a portion of the trail on a high grassy area overlooking the canyon below. Not like the Grand, but not to sneeze at either. If he were to try it, it would likely be in a group and with camping gear, all the precautions necessary for a (142 miles, 12 hour record time) long tour where there are no towns in between. Maybe even dig up a sat phone.
In our conversation, she verified all is well in their household of 4 + dog + however many cats. Staying at and/or working from home is not new for them, so they're doing well that way. Lots of internet friendships help too. Minnesota not quite so much on the doing well part. While behind the NY curve, numbers are jumping and supplies shorting. At least Governor Walsh is on the ball. Blue state, don'cha know. None of that "see me take my family out to a crowded place for fun and food and you should too" crap.
Today's news infuriated me this morning. It wasn't the fact that China has not seen a new case for three days now, and they are responding by sharing their supplies with countries where the virus is taking a high toll. Bravo there! But this jerk had to put it in terms of them "glossing over" their responsibility for "letting" it spread in the first place. Hey, everybody gets a pass for being first on the learning curve. They did learn, and took what we are still terming draconian measures to curb the virus. What are we learning from their and our experiences? Not enough yet. What are we doing to "let" it spread? Too much. Will this same jerk blame Trump for the latter? Doubtful.
Yeah, I know, politics again. But I sent emails to both local and national CBS news to voice my opinion, aka outrage. Somebody had to.
Got some wonderful news today. My granddaughter is pregnant with #2, due November. This will make great-grandbaby #3 for us. Our second "great" is due any time, waiting to hear. Have to wonder, both for now and next fall, just how safe it is to be in the hospital for anything not an emergency. OK, emergencies too. But will there come a time (or maybe just when... ?) that we have to make that deliberation? Just like having to make the deliberation of one-respirator-two-patients-so who-dies like Italy has to now? Is there a way to choose?
Oops, didn't mean to veer off onto the deep end on that bit of joy. It deserves to be treasured all on its own.
If only it can.
Her news perked me up enough to step out and take more pictures as things change in the yard, and kill off another section of weeds. Yes, the wind is blowing, but I sprayed anyway. It's a section of the yard where drift will only fall on... more weeds. Temperatures have risen enough that the house is opened up for that same wind to drive the fragrance of orange blossoms throughout the house. Win-win.
Say, did anyone watch Rachel Maddow sign off in tears last night? One of her fellow MSNBC employees succumbed to the virus.
What? Not doing it in your part of the world? Is Phoenix the only crazy place? More than normally crazy, that is? They're putting them up in neighborhoods - supposedly, according to TV - and in shopping and restaurant areas where there is no traffic. The claims are it's something for the bored to do, something for the rest of us when we're out and about but keeping our social distance of course - to feel cheery about.
I'm going for stupid, personally. Sounds like a good idea until you figure out who just won't keep their distance or can't if it really attracts attention.
Kinda like that now-viral video of the cute little white dog being walked down the street with the leash attached to a drone. Good idea until it's not, and then it's horrible. What happens when that big mean dog runs out to challenge the little dog? How can a drone deal with that? Crash? That all you got? A drone is gonna chase away the big dog? Or the car that doesn't see either drone nor dog? Or some twerp finds it funny to yank on the leash? Has the drone the power to turn the pooch around? Stop the twerp? Seriously, anything that powerful would also be illegal. Mourn your pooch from jail, where your new BFFs are happily sharing all their germs with you.
For the record, other than twice yesterday, there is yet no recurrence of fever. Protest was canceled, though I notified our leader that I was staying home regardless. I checked with my Walmart pharmacy when I got one of those robot messages about refilling a prescription, and was informed it was OK for me to show up for it because they now have drive-through. Who knew? And where? The pharmacy is in the front of the store and I've seen no indication on the front of the building of any spot to accommodate a drive thru. Guess I'll do a drive-around and see where it might be. Logistics would be interesting though. Somebody has to hike them across the store to wherever for each customer? Way to limit your exposure, staff! We want you to keep healthy!!!!
I've developed my own "hack," if you will, for avoiding Starbucks prices and still getting my own delicious (for me at least, never actually tried Starbucks) mocha to start my mornings. Mind you, it's not an every day thing any more, since I'm actually quasi-listening to my cardiologist and reducing caffeine. I buy instant coffee and Swiss Miss's sugar free cocoa mix in the can. They get dumped together - 7 ox. coffee crystals and two 10.6 oz. cans cocoa - into a repurposed large peanut butter jar. Along with a spoon that fits. (Spoon goes in first or never. Too packed. When returning it, I find it helps to push the spoon down while shaking the jar lightly so the packed powder moves. Not so hard you get a faceful, or counter full. Or floor full. I mean that last would be a pure crime!) I do my best to be sure they are blended evenly.
However, a couple spoonfuls later or a shake of the jar and I see the large coffee crystals rising to the top. That happens to any mix of solids as the little bits filter down through the cracks. If uncorrected, my mocha mix becomes unbalanced, both in flavor and caffeine. For months I've looked at it and thought I should dump it all into a flour sifter and break down the coffee. And looked at it. And thought.
Today, somewhere beyond bored, and sick of virus figures and presidential BS, I went ahead and did it.
Amazing what can catch your attention in these times, eh?
I've been on the phone a bit more than usual. Saw an article in National Geographic and passed on two words of information to my daughter: Kokopelli Trail. Not for her, but my son-in-law. This is a bike trail that goes from Colorado, along the Colorado River, into Moab, Utah. Or vice versa. He loves long distance bicycle trips and is also - among other things - a professional photographer. Additionally he likes camping and has a circle of like-minded friends. When things simmer down, he might appreciate this information.
It caught my attention because of series of crime fiction books by Rich Curtin set in Moab with a deputy as the main character. The descriptions of scenery have prodded both Steve and myself to schedule more time in the area than "just" Arches for our summer trip north. The trail itself doesn't appeal, of course, since our touring will be by car, but our immediate thought went to Ben. The picture in the article showed a portion of the trail on a high grassy area overlooking the canyon below. Not like the Grand, but not to sneeze at either. If he were to try it, it would likely be in a group and with camping gear, all the precautions necessary for a (142 miles, 12 hour record time) long tour where there are no towns in between. Maybe even dig up a sat phone.
In our conversation, she verified all is well in their household of 4 + dog + however many cats. Staying at and/or working from home is not new for them, so they're doing well that way. Lots of internet friendships help too. Minnesota not quite so much on the doing well part. While behind the NY curve, numbers are jumping and supplies shorting. At least Governor Walsh is on the ball. Blue state, don'cha know. None of that "see me take my family out to a crowded place for fun and food and you should too" crap.
Today's news infuriated me this morning. It wasn't the fact that China has not seen a new case for three days now, and they are responding by sharing their supplies with countries where the virus is taking a high toll. Bravo there! But this jerk had to put it in terms of them "glossing over" their responsibility for "letting" it spread in the first place. Hey, everybody gets a pass for being first on the learning curve. They did learn, and took what we are still terming draconian measures to curb the virus. What are we learning from their and our experiences? Not enough yet. What are we doing to "let" it spread? Too much. Will this same jerk blame Trump for the latter? Doubtful.
Yeah, I know, politics again. But I sent emails to both local and national CBS news to voice my opinion, aka outrage. Somebody had to.
Got some wonderful news today. My granddaughter is pregnant with #2, due November. This will make great-grandbaby #3 for us. Our second "great" is due any time, waiting to hear. Have to wonder, both for now and next fall, just how safe it is to be in the hospital for anything not an emergency. OK, emergencies too. But will there come a time (or maybe just when... ?) that we have to make that deliberation? Just like having to make the deliberation of one-respirator-two-patients-so who-dies like Italy has to now? Is there a way to choose?
Oops, didn't mean to veer off onto the deep end on that bit of joy. It deserves to be treasured all on its own.
If only it can.
Her news perked me up enough to step out and take more pictures as things change in the yard, and kill off another section of weeds. Yes, the wind is blowing, but I sprayed anyway. It's a section of the yard where drift will only fall on... more weeds. Temperatures have risen enough that the house is opened up for that same wind to drive the fragrance of orange blossoms throughout the house. Win-win.
Say, did anyone watch Rachel Maddow sign off in tears last night? One of her fellow MSNBC employees succumbed to the virus.
Friday, March 20, 2020
Adventures In Caronavirus Land, Episode 6
The country is starting to believe now. Well, some of them. A few states are taking action, closing non-essential things down. That means different things to different folks, of course. But for some, nothing penetrates that "I am most important in the world and I can do whatever I choose because it's my life" attitude they put on every morning.
I'm not sure if they still believe all the Fox propaganda about it being a hoax, a Democratic plot to destroy Trump and/or the economy, or all the nonsense about whatever spills out of his mouth bypassing everything but his ego. Until just a couple days ago, Fox hadn't gotten the message, but we need to remember it's a foreign owned company. They lie. They spew hate and fear. This is who people trust?
People are starting to behave as though they live in a community, ironically by keep their distance from others in it. It's how we show we care, these days. A morning news clip showed a parade of people in Minnesota driving by a young girl's house with "Happy Birthday" signs because she couldn't hold a party. People are supporting food shelves, shopping for older neighbors, posting videos to entertain others from home. Local and state governments are starting to "encourage" helpful behaviors, a few even closing down with "stay home" orders.
This hurts. Of course. Jobs are lost. Companies shut down, many facing bankruptcy. It doesn't help to stay home except for groceries and medicines if there's no money to buy them with. There's talk of halting evictions, tax payments, utility shut-offs, but it's piecemeal.
Governors are pleading with Trump to help with the need for protective clothing for medical workers, more test kits, ventilators, whatever. He responds with "Find those things yourselves." Information from the top is often inaccurate and usually contradictory. Steve and I found ourselves listening to the head of FEMA and wondering if we could believe a thing he said, then realized it didn't matter because he hadn't really said anything, just a jumble of phrases put together to sound reassuring. Trump calls on old war powers to get things done and we wonder if... no how, he'll misuse them. Will there be inappropriate curfews? Elections cancelled? Press information shut down?
The good news of the day before that he parades before us is proven a lie by the next if not sooner. "We have millions of tests." Lie. "It'll miraculously disappear in a few days." Lie. "There'll be a cure/treatment/whatever right around the corner." Lie. The latest touted possibility of a treatment for malaria working is still just a hypothesis. Yes, the drug does exist, is generally safe. We just have no idea if it works, or if so, on whom, when to be administered in order to work, and what dosage? Months or more will have to pass before we get those answers. Even if tried now, will we know if "cures" are real or just coincidences, an artifact of a selection process unconsciously leaning towards the least ill?
"I accept no responsibility." That one, unfortunately, is true. Hey, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
The numbers are spiking, obviously due to increased testing, and with that still inadequate, still a long ways from final tallies. Deaths are spiking, with only a few talking heads reminding us that the numbers of deaths run 3 weeks behind reports of cases. Warnings about young people contracting severe cases and even dying are surfacing, contrary to everything that's been told before, but we wonder who's listening? Expectations are that young people sail right through it, just worry about grandparents.
Selfishness is not the only thing playing a role in the spread. Stupidity, plain old garden variety stupidity, still rules. People hoard masks when they only, at best, protect others from your infectious cough and sneeze. They wear those masks for days, then pull them down while they talk to other people to aid conversation. Hospitals, running out, are instructing staff to reuse masks, gloves and gowns to the point where they might as well not exist, bringing our hospitals back a couple hundred years in sanitation. I've often wondered why non-medical, healthy people don't just wear bandanas over their faces like the old cowboys on the trail. They wash easily with detergent and can be reused, for whatever good you think they're doing.
Military medical supplies are not being utilized, new supplies not being made, anywhere near the rate needed. Two military medical ships have been deployed, but one will take a week or more to reach the west coast for use. Those with 3-d printers are being asked to put them into use for ventilators, factories to switch to face masks. Seamstresses are making cloth masks on sewing machines. It's slow.
It's slow.
And Trump is so convinced of his own perfection that he's not pushing hard enough, except perhaps to brace up the big corporations so they can support the stock market... so his cronies can pay megabucks to win him a second term? It's the Republicans supporting the big corporation, hoping we don't notice they've been putting their profits into stock buybacks instead of workers pockets and safety. It's the Democrats who are fighting to ease the burdens to ordinary folks, financially and medically. And now we get the news that (mostly?) Republican Senators have been dumping stocks while talking positive things about the virus, then once their finances are protected, letting their concerns go public. If they can put Martha Stewart in jail for that.... Let's make sure, after the big stuff in done, to investigate those charges as thoroughly as Hillary's emails were, and as often, and as publicly.
Steve tells me he thinks these posts are getting too political. For him. But what's going on IS political. And due to the failures of this administration on all fronts, something as tiny as a virus is jamming those failures down all our throats, figuratively and literally. Because we stayed home - not now when it is mandated, but in 2016 when we didn't bother to get out and vote. We have to do better, all of us, and that's political too.
On the home front, Steve has been coughing lately. His doctor says due to a lack of fever, it's likely just seasonal allergies. Or something. And due to lack of fever, there will of course be no test to confirm. Just sitting home to wait. I, however, woke up this morning with a sore throat and a fever, just under 100. My usual is 97.6.
Just sitting home to wait also. And blogging.
I'm not sure if they still believe all the Fox propaganda about it being a hoax, a Democratic plot to destroy Trump and/or the economy, or all the nonsense about whatever spills out of his mouth bypassing everything but his ego. Until just a couple days ago, Fox hadn't gotten the message, but we need to remember it's a foreign owned company. They lie. They spew hate and fear. This is who people trust?
People are starting to behave as though they live in a community, ironically by keep their distance from others in it. It's how we show we care, these days. A morning news clip showed a parade of people in Minnesota driving by a young girl's house with "Happy Birthday" signs because she couldn't hold a party. People are supporting food shelves, shopping for older neighbors, posting videos to entertain others from home. Local and state governments are starting to "encourage" helpful behaviors, a few even closing down with "stay home" orders.
This hurts. Of course. Jobs are lost. Companies shut down, many facing bankruptcy. It doesn't help to stay home except for groceries and medicines if there's no money to buy them with. There's talk of halting evictions, tax payments, utility shut-offs, but it's piecemeal.
Governors are pleading with Trump to help with the need for protective clothing for medical workers, more test kits, ventilators, whatever. He responds with "Find those things yourselves." Information from the top is often inaccurate and usually contradictory. Steve and I found ourselves listening to the head of FEMA and wondering if we could believe a thing he said, then realized it didn't matter because he hadn't really said anything, just a jumble of phrases put together to sound reassuring. Trump calls on old war powers to get things done and we wonder if... no how, he'll misuse them. Will there be inappropriate curfews? Elections cancelled? Press information shut down?
The good news of the day before that he parades before us is proven a lie by the next if not sooner. "We have millions of tests." Lie. "It'll miraculously disappear in a few days." Lie. "There'll be a cure/treatment/whatever right around the corner." Lie. The latest touted possibility of a treatment for malaria working is still just a hypothesis. Yes, the drug does exist, is generally safe. We just have no idea if it works, or if so, on whom, when to be administered in order to work, and what dosage? Months or more will have to pass before we get those answers. Even if tried now, will we know if "cures" are real or just coincidences, an artifact of a selection process unconsciously leaning towards the least ill?
"I accept no responsibility." That one, unfortunately, is true. Hey, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
The numbers are spiking, obviously due to increased testing, and with that still inadequate, still a long ways from final tallies. Deaths are spiking, with only a few talking heads reminding us that the numbers of deaths run 3 weeks behind reports of cases. Warnings about young people contracting severe cases and even dying are surfacing, contrary to everything that's been told before, but we wonder who's listening? Expectations are that young people sail right through it, just worry about grandparents.
Selfishness is not the only thing playing a role in the spread. Stupidity, plain old garden variety stupidity, still rules. People hoard masks when they only, at best, protect others from your infectious cough and sneeze. They wear those masks for days, then pull them down while they talk to other people to aid conversation. Hospitals, running out, are instructing staff to reuse masks, gloves and gowns to the point where they might as well not exist, bringing our hospitals back a couple hundred years in sanitation. I've often wondered why non-medical, healthy people don't just wear bandanas over their faces like the old cowboys on the trail. They wash easily with detergent and can be reused, for whatever good you think they're doing.
Military medical supplies are not being utilized, new supplies not being made, anywhere near the rate needed. Two military medical ships have been deployed, but one will take a week or more to reach the west coast for use. Those with 3-d printers are being asked to put them into use for ventilators, factories to switch to face masks. Seamstresses are making cloth masks on sewing machines. It's slow.
It's slow.
And Trump is so convinced of his own perfection that he's not pushing hard enough, except perhaps to brace up the big corporations so they can support the stock market... so his cronies can pay megabucks to win him a second term? It's the Republicans supporting the big corporation, hoping we don't notice they've been putting their profits into stock buybacks instead of workers pockets and safety. It's the Democrats who are fighting to ease the burdens to ordinary folks, financially and medically. And now we get the news that (mostly?) Republican Senators have been dumping stocks while talking positive things about the virus, then once their finances are protected, letting their concerns go public. If they can put Martha Stewart in jail for that.... Let's make sure, after the big stuff in done, to investigate those charges as thoroughly as Hillary's emails were, and as often, and as publicly.
Steve tells me he thinks these posts are getting too political. For him. But what's going on IS political. And due to the failures of this administration on all fronts, something as tiny as a virus is jamming those failures down all our throats, figuratively and literally. Because we stayed home - not now when it is mandated, but in 2016 when we didn't bother to get out and vote. We have to do better, all of us, and that's political too.
On the home front, Steve has been coughing lately. His doctor says due to a lack of fever, it's likely just seasonal allergies. Or something. And due to lack of fever, there will of course be no test to confirm. Just sitting home to wait. I, however, woke up this morning with a sore throat and a fever, just under 100. My usual is 97.6.
Just sitting home to wait also. And blogging.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Plucking Thistles
One great way to hunker in place is not letting the yard thistles do the same. Apparently they grow very very well down here. Taking out the pine tree a couple years back and disturbing the soil to level it back out, plus spreading the rocks around which expose more soil to sun and seeds, all have initiated cycles of weed crops. The spreading spurges we were used to. Their tiny flowers are attractive, tending to dissuade one from killing them until it's too late to prevent them reseeding their plot and four-fold more. So, oops, none of that please. We even know to wear good gloves to discourage the irate ants who lose their shade canopies when you pluck out the spurges and who manage a painful pinch.
Those same gloves work well on the thistles. Up to a point. After twenty minutes, I guarantee one will work its way to your skin. I also guarantee you'll never find it to remove it. But the issues come together, since it seems that the thistles and spurges may have a symbiotic arrangement of some sort. Or maybe it's just coincidence that the thistles seem to always grow out of a spurge plant. Who knows? I'm not bothering to research it. Not that stir crazy yet. Just because saguaros only grow in the shade of a tree doesn't mean it works with these two.
With recent rains, 2 1/2 inches in 4 days, the soil is loose and the thistles come up reasonably well. You have to be careful to dig the stones out from around them with your gloved fingers so you can grab their base all the way at the bottom, or they simply break.
Did that. Several times.
Fortunately, thistles finally succumb to the charms of Round Up. Unfortunately, they still need to be removed, and in their dead/rotting state, that's pretty impossible. All in all, 20 minutes of that kind of yard work is my limit. Two day's of it (aka 40 minutes) fairly well cleans the thistles (only) out of the yard, making space for the newest babies to follow. But hey, there will be more to do before hunkering ends.
Rain is expected again tomorrow.
Those same gloves work well on the thistles. Up to a point. After twenty minutes, I guarantee one will work its way to your skin. I also guarantee you'll never find it to remove it. But the issues come together, since it seems that the thistles and spurges may have a symbiotic arrangement of some sort. Or maybe it's just coincidence that the thistles seem to always grow out of a spurge plant. Who knows? I'm not bothering to research it. Not that stir crazy yet. Just because saguaros only grow in the shade of a tree doesn't mean it works with these two.
With recent rains, 2 1/2 inches in 4 days, the soil is loose and the thistles come up reasonably well. You have to be careful to dig the stones out from around them with your gloved fingers so you can grab their base all the way at the bottom, or they simply break.
Did that. Several times.
Fortunately, thistles finally succumb to the charms of Round Up. Unfortunately, they still need to be removed, and in their dead/rotting state, that's pretty impossible. All in all, 20 minutes of that kind of yard work is my limit. Two day's of it (aka 40 minutes) fairly well cleans the thistles (only) out of the yard, making space for the newest babies to follow. But hey, there will be more to do before hunkering ends.
Rain is expected again tomorrow.
Adventures In Caronavirus Land, Episode 5
RCSC still has not given the order to close the rec centers. I'm convinced it's well past time. With Trump's declaration that we should meet in groups no larger than 10 people, even the righty wingnuts might finally realize this is more than a democratic hoax, or an overreaction plot to destroy the economy. Faux Snooze might even take notice. After all, it's their audience who's most vulnerable. No, stupid and deluded aren't risk factors per se. It's the age group.
We didn't need a plot to plunge us into recession. Economists with both brain and spine have been saying for months now that this is where we've been headed. Even this non-economist knows that when the stockmarket, housing market, or any market pushes way up it must, at the very least, suffer through a correction.
Or have we already forgotten the lessons of 2008?
I did my teensy part to support a local business. My craving for Chinese finally won out. Take-out only, of course, and fingers crossed. Four entrees should last us both for a while. I never tip for take-out, but this time I left a generous one, along with my hopes that they will survive these next weeks or however long by being able to remain open for take-out. That's been the bulk of their business anyway, from what I've seen over the last few years.
Hunkering down is being advocated in clusters of populations around the country, depending on who's in charge, government-wise. Reactions range from nobody-can-tell-me-what-to-do, and this-is-martial-law: arm-yourselves! to grudging compliance, to proactive willing compliance. There's always an intrepid - or desperate - reporter out interviewing the person on the street. Somehow it's never the sensible ones staying home, of course. The most touching report was from the mother of a child whose school is out for however long. Her daughter told her that now she doesn't have to fear school shooters for a few weeks.
Ouch!
Coming on top of reports of gun stores doing a brisk business, some to the point of running out of ammo: double ouch.
I heard from my daughter, just a quick phone call while waiting for that food order. Her conference she was to fly down here for over Easter has been canceled. It was expected. Still, she had planned to visit anyway. Not any more. One thing is, it's been rescheduled to next year's Easter weekend. We'll still get that visit, just postponed. The other is the increasing reports of people who have the virus being able to spread it for days before they become symptomatic. (Our government finally quit claiming that wasn't an issue. Negligent twits! And I'm being kind here. Don't know why.) She decided not to take the chance of catching it on the airplane and sharing it with us two geezers. I still plan on seeing her this summer.
Steve was finally talked into making an appointment with his doctor for something to deal effectively this time with his infection after the last antibiotic didn't do the job. Of course, he still has to live with it until Wednesday, the first open appointment.
Not helpful.
I'll drive him there, but he's on his own going into the clinic.
I'll have to remember to put the bottle of hand sanitizer in the car. It's a whole ounce, cost $2. That's cheap, ridiculous as it is. Stores are out, so on-line shopping shows how "the market" is taking advantage. After prowling eBay and other sites, not only were prices horrible, but the usually free shipping for a bottle could be as much as $30! Wipes, bleach, alcohol, same story. I gave up in disgust. If we actually stay home, there's plenty of soap for all the household uses.
If that's not annoying enough, a whole lot of eBay sellers are buying their ad placements for totally irrelevant items among those we are searching through. Really: I should want nail files because I'm hunting hand sanitizer? Are shoppers that impulsive? Stupid? OK, apparently yes, and yes.
It's not just hoarding and over pricing. The con artists are out in force too. Phony "cures" on wingnut radio are flagrant. Some are dangerous in themselves, not just in their uselessness and budget draining. I even got a phone call from some (bogus) company informing me they had gotten a prescription for me for a piece of medical equipment, and would I care to place the order now? Where do these people com from? I simply informed her I knew nothing of any such prescription, and definitely NOT!
Heard of the toilet licking challenge? OK, if you're done vomiting, listen up. Best theory I've heard is these people are all Russian - um, not bots, but disinformation specialists. They are trying to reach that segment among us who can be influenced by things like "Jackass" to do stupid things just because they think others can get away with whatever it is, so they can "prove" themselves by doing it too. Take a close look at those faces in those - uh, ads? Eastern European, all. Nothing American looking in them. Disinformation campaign to eliminate or weaken us. Crazy? You decide. Evil? Absolutely. Beyond Putin's pale? Who gave us Trump, eh?
Karma. Darwin Awards. Schadenfreude. These are terms getting lots of attention in comment sections on line. They follow the threads of discussions after people are outspokenly stupid or even malignant about not taking precautions to spread the virus, or when we find out Kushner has a brother in the company Trump has working on the test kits (follow the money, folks), or Trump's bid to buy that German company working on a vaccine, with him wishing to limit it for US only. Red states are likely to be most affected by the virus, particularly the ones who turned down expansions in Medicaid back when Obamacare had the government pay for it all. So: karma. All those Trump cronies at CPAC along with indifferent virus carriers who might now be getting sick: schadenfreude. Attribution attempts of Darwin Awards are quickly thwarted by other commenters reminding folks that those are only earned by persons who have not yet replicated their DNA in offspring. Too late.
Check out Kentucky for a moment. Moscow Mitch, in the middle of a crisis, heads home for a break so the Senate can't take any action to curb or ameliorate the effects to people or the economy. This, of course, doesn't stop him from campaigning older judges to retire, so he can continue to fill the federal benches with extremists even more than he's been quietly doing already. (What: you didn't know?) Kentucky has a huge population with coal-caused lung issues. They don't have to be miners. It's in the air everywhere. That whole population is particularly vulnerable to covid 19. Does Moscow Mitch care? It's nowhere evident. But his wife's family is making a mint with her connections in her position in the administration.
Other senators are proposing financial payouts to those hit hardest by job loss right now. While that may help, particularly those needing groceries, how about also legislating moratoriums of things like evictions and repossessions for those affected? Our electric company has announced that there will be no electricity shutoffs for the duration. Where air conditioning is a summer must-have, this equates to Minnesota keeping the winter heat on. It's survival. I've gotten emails from both my garbage and gas companies. They pledge their precautions in case of contact at our houses. The garbage company has closed its offices to customers, referring us to phone contact with apologies for delays.
Just after a quick pause to update reading emails, our club president has announced club closure at 4:00 this afternoon, until further notice. I presume that means RCSC has gotten off their a$$es and closed the rec centers. I'd already emailed her I wasn't going in for "my day" to do what Steve calls "babysitting the club." My credit union also emailed that they are going to drive-through only. Since I'm on a mail-only and direct deposit status with them, plus e-payments for bill pay, nice to know but irrelevant for now.
I also plan not to protest this weekend. It's not for want of an audience, if yesterday is any indication. Traffic here is maintained still at usual levels. There have been fewer people doing their morning walk down the sidewalk, however. Weird. What kind of crowds do they anticipate? Then again, I guess you never know who might cough in passing.
A quick emergency trip to the store for milk, butter and eggs revealed a whole lot of empty shelves with signs saying "one only". That included milk, eggs, and butter. Naturally. Supposedly they restock overnight, but the early morning parking lot was jammed. The weird thing was the shoppers were thinned out. Had they been raptured?
Did you snicker at yesterday's post about cloud watching to combat cabin fever? Sunset was spectacular. Light pink clouds across a light blue sky, slowly darkening to purple on deep blue. I even got Steve out to share it with me. Forgot the camera, of course.
Morning news cites 90 deaths, over 4,000 cases. Sick people still can't get tested because of "qualifications." Trump says he's doing a great job. Then he states he's going, now, to put the "A Team" on to the job of fighting the virus.
What, now? Who's been doing it so far?
Oh yeah, this is Trump. I doubt that he'd recognize an A Team if it came with Mr. T loaded in gold chains.
We didn't need a plot to plunge us into recession. Economists with both brain and spine have been saying for months now that this is where we've been headed. Even this non-economist knows that when the stockmarket, housing market, or any market pushes way up it must, at the very least, suffer through a correction.
Or have we already forgotten the lessons of 2008?
I did my teensy part to support a local business. My craving for Chinese finally won out. Take-out only, of course, and fingers crossed. Four entrees should last us both for a while. I never tip for take-out, but this time I left a generous one, along with my hopes that they will survive these next weeks or however long by being able to remain open for take-out. That's been the bulk of their business anyway, from what I've seen over the last few years.
Hunkering down is being advocated in clusters of populations around the country, depending on who's in charge, government-wise. Reactions range from nobody-can-tell-me-what-to-do, and this-is-martial-law: arm-yourselves! to grudging compliance, to proactive willing compliance. There's always an intrepid - or desperate - reporter out interviewing the person on the street. Somehow it's never the sensible ones staying home, of course. The most touching report was from the mother of a child whose school is out for however long. Her daughter told her that now she doesn't have to fear school shooters for a few weeks.
Ouch!
Coming on top of reports of gun stores doing a brisk business, some to the point of running out of ammo: double ouch.
I heard from my daughter, just a quick phone call while waiting for that food order. Her conference she was to fly down here for over Easter has been canceled. It was expected. Still, she had planned to visit anyway. Not any more. One thing is, it's been rescheduled to next year's Easter weekend. We'll still get that visit, just postponed. The other is the increasing reports of people who have the virus being able to spread it for days before they become symptomatic. (Our government finally quit claiming that wasn't an issue. Negligent twits! And I'm being kind here. Don't know why.) She decided not to take the chance of catching it on the airplane and sharing it with us two geezers. I still plan on seeing her this summer.
Steve was finally talked into making an appointment with his doctor for something to deal effectively this time with his infection after the last antibiotic didn't do the job. Of course, he still has to live with it until Wednesday, the first open appointment.
Not helpful.
I'll drive him there, but he's on his own going into the clinic.
I'll have to remember to put the bottle of hand sanitizer in the car. It's a whole ounce, cost $2. That's cheap, ridiculous as it is. Stores are out, so on-line shopping shows how "the market" is taking advantage. After prowling eBay and other sites, not only were prices horrible, but the usually free shipping for a bottle could be as much as $30! Wipes, bleach, alcohol, same story. I gave up in disgust. If we actually stay home, there's plenty of soap for all the household uses.
If that's not annoying enough, a whole lot of eBay sellers are buying their ad placements for totally irrelevant items among those we are searching through. Really: I should want nail files because I'm hunting hand sanitizer? Are shoppers that impulsive? Stupid? OK, apparently yes, and yes.
It's not just hoarding and over pricing. The con artists are out in force too. Phony "cures" on wingnut radio are flagrant. Some are dangerous in themselves, not just in their uselessness and budget draining. I even got a phone call from some (bogus) company informing me they had gotten a prescription for me for a piece of medical equipment, and would I care to place the order now? Where do these people com from? I simply informed her I knew nothing of any such prescription, and definitely NOT!
Heard of the toilet licking challenge? OK, if you're done vomiting, listen up. Best theory I've heard is these people are all Russian - um, not bots, but disinformation specialists. They are trying to reach that segment among us who can be influenced by things like "Jackass" to do stupid things just because they think others can get away with whatever it is, so they can "prove" themselves by doing it too. Take a close look at those faces in those - uh, ads? Eastern European, all. Nothing American looking in them. Disinformation campaign to eliminate or weaken us. Crazy? You decide. Evil? Absolutely. Beyond Putin's pale? Who gave us Trump, eh?
Karma. Darwin Awards. Schadenfreude. These are terms getting lots of attention in comment sections on line. They follow the threads of discussions after people are outspokenly stupid or even malignant about not taking precautions to spread the virus, or when we find out Kushner has a brother in the company Trump has working on the test kits (follow the money, folks), or Trump's bid to buy that German company working on a vaccine, with him wishing to limit it for US only. Red states are likely to be most affected by the virus, particularly the ones who turned down expansions in Medicaid back when Obamacare had the government pay for it all. So: karma. All those Trump cronies at CPAC along with indifferent virus carriers who might now be getting sick: schadenfreude. Attribution attempts of Darwin Awards are quickly thwarted by other commenters reminding folks that those are only earned by persons who have not yet replicated their DNA in offspring. Too late.
Check out Kentucky for a moment. Moscow Mitch, in the middle of a crisis, heads home for a break so the Senate can't take any action to curb or ameliorate the effects to people or the economy. This, of course, doesn't stop him from campaigning older judges to retire, so he can continue to fill the federal benches with extremists even more than he's been quietly doing already. (What: you didn't know?) Kentucky has a huge population with coal-caused lung issues. They don't have to be miners. It's in the air everywhere. That whole population is particularly vulnerable to covid 19. Does Moscow Mitch care? It's nowhere evident. But his wife's family is making a mint with her connections in her position in the administration.
Other senators are proposing financial payouts to those hit hardest by job loss right now. While that may help, particularly those needing groceries, how about also legislating moratoriums of things like evictions and repossessions for those affected? Our electric company has announced that there will be no electricity shutoffs for the duration. Where air conditioning is a summer must-have, this equates to Minnesota keeping the winter heat on. It's survival. I've gotten emails from both my garbage and gas companies. They pledge their precautions in case of contact at our houses. The garbage company has closed its offices to customers, referring us to phone contact with apologies for delays.
Just after a quick pause to update reading emails, our club president has announced club closure at 4:00 this afternoon, until further notice. I presume that means RCSC has gotten off their a$$es and closed the rec centers. I'd already emailed her I wasn't going in for "my day" to do what Steve calls "babysitting the club." My credit union also emailed that they are going to drive-through only. Since I'm on a mail-only and direct deposit status with them, plus e-payments for bill pay, nice to know but irrelevant for now.
I also plan not to protest this weekend. It's not for want of an audience, if yesterday is any indication. Traffic here is maintained still at usual levels. There have been fewer people doing their morning walk down the sidewalk, however. Weird. What kind of crowds do they anticipate? Then again, I guess you never know who might cough in passing.
A quick emergency trip to the store for milk, butter and eggs revealed a whole lot of empty shelves with signs saying "one only". That included milk, eggs, and butter. Naturally. Supposedly they restock overnight, but the early morning parking lot was jammed. The weird thing was the shoppers were thinned out. Had they been raptured?
Did you snicker at yesterday's post about cloud watching to combat cabin fever? Sunset was spectacular. Light pink clouds across a light blue sky, slowly darkening to purple on deep blue. I even got Steve out to share it with me. Forgot the camera, of course.
Morning news cites 90 deaths, over 4,000 cases. Sick people still can't get tested because of "qualifications." Trump says he's doing a great job. Then he states he's going, now, to put the "A Team" on to the job of fighting the virus.
What, now? Who's been doing it so far?
Oh yeah, this is Trump. I doubt that he'd recognize an A Team if it came with Mr. T loaded in gold chains.
Monday, March 16, 2020
Adventures In Caronavirus Land, Episode 4
Hunkering Down:
Steve and I keep reminding each other, when we come up with "I'd love some _____ from ____ restaurant, that maybe now just isn't the time. We planned for this. On the other hand, many people on the TV are promoting supporting restaurants by ordering take-out. Hmmm, the yen for fried rice, wontons, various other entrees is growing. We'll think about it.
Meanwhile, I have canceled two doctor's visits this morning over the phone. The one was for next week, but that biopsy came back negative and the $214.50 (!!!!!!!!) tube of steroidal skin creme seems to be doing the trick. The other was a follow-up with my cardiologist for another monitor. I'd been having flutters until I drastically cut back caffeine, but not a one since. The only purpose of the monitor was tracing the source of them. 7 new monitors arrived this morning and they called to offer me one, but understood when I declined in favor of somebody with active symptoms to track down.
Before Steve went back to bed this morning he called his doctor to renew a prescription that hadn't done the trick, but he didn't want to have to go in to the office. I'll get the doc's answer to that one after Steve wakes up again.
(Note: Doc says he must visit. I'm trying to convince him this is a good idea.)
I had recently filled my prescriptions, but a quick inventory of the medicine cabinet last night showed a dwindling supply of vitamin c and ibuprofin. I just reordered both on line. Too bad milk and eggs don't come home delivery - at least not that I can find. Yet. Oh yeah, butter too. I'll hoard the remaining ice cream as long as I can.
Another day for sure.
Our Canadian next-door neighbors had to change their plans to return north. They were scheduled for early April. They now leave this week. Canada has a great healthcare system, but when they come down to the USA, they have to actually buy a policy to cover any eventuality while here. Canada informed all their citizens that due to the healthcare crisis, they were cancelling all insurance out-of-country in a few days, so GET BACK HERE NOW! The bonus for us is they picked the last of their oranges and we now have a supply again. (The last of the previous supply started to spoil and I suggested Steve entertain himself by pitching them into the back yard for the critters. He did. Widely.)
Schools are shutting down in many states, including this one now. Ironically, places are "stepping up" to take care of kids while their parents are at work, either with activities or meals, while schools are closed. That's a head scratcher. Aren't those gatherings defeating the purpose?
Still waiting to hear if Sun City Rec Centers are shutting down. My Canadian neighbor heard the board was meeting this morning to discuss the matter. It seems they waited for "ball" season(s) to end first. The neighbor is into pickle ball, so that's his source.
Meanwhile the stock market continues to crash, usually after Trump says his latest lie of self-praise and responsibility denial. His imcompetence is starting to show to all but the most deluded followers now. The word is out not only that he killed the pandemic preparedness program (because, you know, Obama), but besides turning down WHO's test kits, offered free to us, in favor of having BIG PHARMA make some money off of what are not only late but only 90% accurate, he's contacted a German company working on a vaccine with an offer to buy out the company on the condition of exclusive US rights to the vaccine!
PSYCHOPATH!
Sounds like a great incentive for Germany to rush through nationalizing that company, eh?
At least the localized government leaders - governors, mayors, etc. - are showing signs of leadership. Schools, Broadway, restaurants, casinos, sports, events over (pick your number here: ______) people, all shut down. For a bit, anyway. Idiots like Nunos encourage folks to go to restaurants to support them. Saner heads suggest ordering take-out instead.
"We'll Remember In November" is taking root. Elections may or may not be canceled or postponed. AZ has their Presidential Preference election tomorrow. Additional polling places have opened for "emergency" early voting today, but you have to sign a form claiming an emergency. At least they don't make you explain why, like Minnesota used to. Fortunately, AZ has long had permanent early voting, and we've been on that list for years. Perhaps this will encourage our state legislators NOT to cut back on it as they had been trying to do.
You think? Red state Arizona?
Here's another head scratcher: the Red Cross. They are encouraging "healthy" people eligible to donate to come in. The concern for short supplies is warranted. But they state that there is no concern for blood spreading covid 19, as there is no evidence that it is spread through blood. Really? Has anybody tested it? What other viruses don't spread through blood? And how can it not be in blood, since all blood passes through the lungs? How do we even know, given insufficient testing and being contagious before being symptomatic, that these donors don't have it?
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
With the shutdowns, we have one relative and one friend who just lost income. They work(ed) for a company which supplies security for large venues. No work. One can stay home with his kids to save daycare expenses, we hope. Last I heard, though, day car centers had funky rules about payment even if kids don't attend. But by all means, keep those little germ machines home and away from other little germ machines for a bit, can ya? We love them all.
Another relative drives taxi in a small town in Minnesota, and just called to say Walsh has closed down restaurants. This would be the end to his taxi business for the duration.
Just the thought of hunkering down for the duration is already starting to push those cabin fever buttons. We won't be bored. There will be plenty of distractions. TV. Home movies on DVD. Albums full. Home library plus kindles for each. Jewelry making supplies in quantity. Phone-a-friends. Back yard bird watching. Back yard bunny watching. Front yard weed pulling / killing. Cloud watching.
In a pinch, I could even empty out the vacuum like I've been meaning to do for ... nevermind ... and vacuum the house. I could quit ignoring dust accumulations. Quit postponing gathering 2019 tax information and making sure I needn't file again this year. Run the outgoing mail to the post office drop box now that our mailman just breezed by without checking for anything, possibly to keep from any exposure and boost his on-time record.
We do have options.
Steve and I keep reminding each other, when we come up with "I'd love some _____ from ____ restaurant, that maybe now just isn't the time. We planned for this. On the other hand, many people on the TV are promoting supporting restaurants by ordering take-out. Hmmm, the yen for fried rice, wontons, various other entrees is growing. We'll think about it.
Meanwhile, I have canceled two doctor's visits this morning over the phone. The one was for next week, but that biopsy came back negative and the $214.50 (!!!!!!!!) tube of steroidal skin creme seems to be doing the trick. The other was a follow-up with my cardiologist for another monitor. I'd been having flutters until I drastically cut back caffeine, but not a one since. The only purpose of the monitor was tracing the source of them. 7 new monitors arrived this morning and they called to offer me one, but understood when I declined in favor of somebody with active symptoms to track down.
Before Steve went back to bed this morning he called his doctor to renew a prescription that hadn't done the trick, but he didn't want to have to go in to the office. I'll get the doc's answer to that one after Steve wakes up again.
(Note: Doc says he must visit. I'm trying to convince him this is a good idea.)
I had recently filled my prescriptions, but a quick inventory of the medicine cabinet last night showed a dwindling supply of vitamin c and ibuprofin. I just reordered both on line. Too bad milk and eggs don't come home delivery - at least not that I can find. Yet. Oh yeah, butter too. I'll hoard the remaining ice cream as long as I can.
Another day for sure.
Our Canadian next-door neighbors had to change their plans to return north. They were scheduled for early April. They now leave this week. Canada has a great healthcare system, but when they come down to the USA, they have to actually buy a policy to cover any eventuality while here. Canada informed all their citizens that due to the healthcare crisis, they were cancelling all insurance out-of-country in a few days, so GET BACK HERE NOW! The bonus for us is they picked the last of their oranges and we now have a supply again. (The last of the previous supply started to spoil and I suggested Steve entertain himself by pitching them into the back yard for the critters. He did. Widely.)
Schools are shutting down in many states, including this one now. Ironically, places are "stepping up" to take care of kids while their parents are at work, either with activities or meals, while schools are closed. That's a head scratcher. Aren't those gatherings defeating the purpose?
Still waiting to hear if Sun City Rec Centers are shutting down. My Canadian neighbor heard the board was meeting this morning to discuss the matter. It seems they waited for "ball" season(s) to end first. The neighbor is into pickle ball, so that's his source.
Meanwhile the stock market continues to crash, usually after Trump says his latest lie of self-praise and responsibility denial. His imcompetence is starting to show to all but the most deluded followers now. The word is out not only that he killed the pandemic preparedness program (because, you know, Obama), but besides turning down WHO's test kits, offered free to us, in favor of having BIG PHARMA make some money off of what are not only late but only 90% accurate, he's contacted a German company working on a vaccine with an offer to buy out the company on the condition of exclusive US rights to the vaccine!
PSYCHOPATH!
Sounds like a great incentive for Germany to rush through nationalizing that company, eh?
At least the localized government leaders - governors, mayors, etc. - are showing signs of leadership. Schools, Broadway, restaurants, casinos, sports, events over (pick your number here: ______) people, all shut down. For a bit, anyway. Idiots like Nunos encourage folks to go to restaurants to support them. Saner heads suggest ordering take-out instead.
"We'll Remember In November" is taking root. Elections may or may not be canceled or postponed. AZ has their Presidential Preference election tomorrow. Additional polling places have opened for "emergency" early voting today, but you have to sign a form claiming an emergency. At least they don't make you explain why, like Minnesota used to. Fortunately, AZ has long had permanent early voting, and we've been on that list for years. Perhaps this will encourage our state legislators NOT to cut back on it as they had been trying to do.
You think? Red state Arizona?
Here's another head scratcher: the Red Cross. They are encouraging "healthy" people eligible to donate to come in. The concern for short supplies is warranted. But they state that there is no concern for blood spreading covid 19, as there is no evidence that it is spread through blood. Really? Has anybody tested it? What other viruses don't spread through blood? And how can it not be in blood, since all blood passes through the lungs? How do we even know, given insufficient testing and being contagious before being symptomatic, that these donors don't have it?
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
With the shutdowns, we have one relative and one friend who just lost income. They work(ed) for a company which supplies security for large venues. No work. One can stay home with his kids to save daycare expenses, we hope. Last I heard, though, day car centers had funky rules about payment even if kids don't attend. But by all means, keep those little germ machines home and away from other little germ machines for a bit, can ya? We love them all.
Another relative drives taxi in a small town in Minnesota, and just called to say Walsh has closed down restaurants. This would be the end to his taxi business for the duration.
Just the thought of hunkering down for the duration is already starting to push those cabin fever buttons. We won't be bored. There will be plenty of distractions. TV. Home movies on DVD. Albums full. Home library plus kindles for each. Jewelry making supplies in quantity. Phone-a-friends. Back yard bird watching. Back yard bunny watching. Front yard weed pulling / killing. Cloud watching.
In a pinch, I could even empty out the vacuum like I've been meaning to do for ... nevermind ... and vacuum the house. I could quit ignoring dust accumulations. Quit postponing gathering 2019 tax information and making sure I needn't file again this year. Run the outgoing mail to the post office drop box now that our mailman just breezed by without checking for anything, possibly to keep from any exposure and boost his on-time record.
We do have options.
Saturday, March 14, 2020
Meanwhile...
Do you have any idea just how hard it is to talk your way into jail?
Perhaps I'm starting with the wrong question. You are no doubt wondering why anyone might either want or need to talk their way into jail. So let's start over.
Did you know that Arizona is one of I-don't-know-how-many states that criminalize poverty? And yes, there is a story here. Rich had to pay a fine. The why of it is another story. But without a job yet, since the one he did get preceded by two days his coming down with a cold that knocked him flat, resulting in him finding out his new boss brooked no excuses whatsoever and immediately became his ex-boss, Rich was unable to pay the fine. After three court dates where he remained unable to pay, he got jail time.
There's a catch 22 here. When in jail here, one must reimburse the county for its expense in keeping you. So when you get out, with jail again having made it even less possible to pay any new fees, you get to go back to jail, where you get charged.... And around and around. There are a couple outs here, if you know somebody who knows the system and likes you enough to share the rules of the game.
Rich needed to report for voluntary surrender tonight. 8:00 PM. Sharp. Before showing up he needed a mantoux test to prove he didn't have TB. (Wonder what they do if you have it?) His test was negative. The paperwork to prove that was just one thing among many he needed to produce to get in. He needed his ID. (Obvious.) He needed a copy of the court documents showing his surrender date and time.
Well, now there was a problem. Without going into details, the event which caused him needing to pay the fine was one that got him booted out of the house. He's been living in a homeless shelter in Phoenix. Among its many many other flaws, it's theft central. His locked bike got stolen. So did his tablet. And his cell phone, the one with all the pictures and videos of his granddaughter on it. So did a bag of his clothing that the guards in the shelter locked up into storage for him. And for unknown reasons, the piece of paper giving the date and time he was to show up.
Really, why would anybody steal that? They were already in a homeless shelter, so had a bed and two squares a day, and weren't under obligation to pay back the system for those privileges, so what would that accomplish? Malice?
This evening I picked up him along with his few remaining unstolen possessions, brought them to the house for actual safekeeping, and drove him to the jail door for voluntary surrender. On time. Early, actually. He'd had to change out of his hoodie since the only sweatshirts allowed were hood-free. He was allowed his ID, paperwork, one paperback and the reading glasses he needed. He finished the candy in is pocket, a last few swigs from his water bottle, and a few puffs of nicotine, leaving them in the car.
I offered to wait. Good thing.
The doors finally opened up for him and one other man waiting, at an unhurried 8:02. Two deputies waited, everybody standing outside while they went through paperwork and possessions. Rich needed to return the case for the glasses to the car. Not allowed. Just the glasses. He had to explain how it was he arrived without the proper piece of paper. Well, could he call his public defender and get a copy?
You mean at 8:00 on a Saturday night? And that's assuming he could even remember her name and/or number since those were on paperwork he wasn't allowed to bring in with him, now stored in my house.
The deputies led the other man away, conferred, and offered to check out their faxes to see if there was a copy of what they required. Otherwise, it was going to be the boot, and a black mark against him for not complying with the court order.
Rich came back to where I waited in the car to explain what was going on. Just as he finished filling me in, the door opened again and one deputy stepped out with a sheet of paper in hand. Rich ran back, exchanged a few sentences with him, and was let in.
I'm expecting a call from him to be picked up in two weeks for a ride back to the shelter.
I'm really really hoping that's the only call I get. Right now it's hard to imagine any news before then being good news. Crap happens in jails, and he was told to expect this one to be more of a prison. Plus the indoor captive population sharing whatever microbes might be available during this uneasy time. Almost the only thing worse might be the homeless shelter population, housed in a large dorm style room with crowded bunks. Many are elderly, handicapped, and considering their economic circumstances, bereft of healthcare and loaded with preexisting conditions.
Rich actually thought jail might be a healthier place to be for the next two weeks.
Perhaps I'm starting with the wrong question. You are no doubt wondering why anyone might either want or need to talk their way into jail. So let's start over.
Did you know that Arizona is one of I-don't-know-how-many states that criminalize poverty? And yes, there is a story here. Rich had to pay a fine. The why of it is another story. But without a job yet, since the one he did get preceded by two days his coming down with a cold that knocked him flat, resulting in him finding out his new boss brooked no excuses whatsoever and immediately became his ex-boss, Rich was unable to pay the fine. After three court dates where he remained unable to pay, he got jail time.
There's a catch 22 here. When in jail here, one must reimburse the county for its expense in keeping you. So when you get out, with jail again having made it even less possible to pay any new fees, you get to go back to jail, where you get charged.... And around and around. There are a couple outs here, if you know somebody who knows the system and likes you enough to share the rules of the game.
Rich needed to report for voluntary surrender tonight. 8:00 PM. Sharp. Before showing up he needed a mantoux test to prove he didn't have TB. (Wonder what they do if you have it?) His test was negative. The paperwork to prove that was just one thing among many he needed to produce to get in. He needed his ID. (Obvious.) He needed a copy of the court documents showing his surrender date and time.
Well, now there was a problem. Without going into details, the event which caused him needing to pay the fine was one that got him booted out of the house. He's been living in a homeless shelter in Phoenix. Among its many many other flaws, it's theft central. His locked bike got stolen. So did his tablet. And his cell phone, the one with all the pictures and videos of his granddaughter on it. So did a bag of his clothing that the guards in the shelter locked up into storage for him. And for unknown reasons, the piece of paper giving the date and time he was to show up.
Really, why would anybody steal that? They were already in a homeless shelter, so had a bed and two squares a day, and weren't under obligation to pay back the system for those privileges, so what would that accomplish? Malice?
This evening I picked up him along with his few remaining unstolen possessions, brought them to the house for actual safekeeping, and drove him to the jail door for voluntary surrender. On time. Early, actually. He'd had to change out of his hoodie since the only sweatshirts allowed were hood-free. He was allowed his ID, paperwork, one paperback and the reading glasses he needed. He finished the candy in is pocket, a last few swigs from his water bottle, and a few puffs of nicotine, leaving them in the car.
I offered to wait. Good thing.
The doors finally opened up for him and one other man waiting, at an unhurried 8:02. Two deputies waited, everybody standing outside while they went through paperwork and possessions. Rich needed to return the case for the glasses to the car. Not allowed. Just the glasses. He had to explain how it was he arrived without the proper piece of paper. Well, could he call his public defender and get a copy?
You mean at 8:00 on a Saturday night? And that's assuming he could even remember her name and/or number since those were on paperwork he wasn't allowed to bring in with him, now stored in my house.
The deputies led the other man away, conferred, and offered to check out their faxes to see if there was a copy of what they required. Otherwise, it was going to be the boot, and a black mark against him for not complying with the court order.
Rich came back to where I waited in the car to explain what was going on. Just as he finished filling me in, the door opened again and one deputy stepped out with a sheet of paper in hand. Rich ran back, exchanged a few sentences with him, and was let in.
I'm expecting a call from him to be picked up in two weeks for a ride back to the shelter.
I'm really really hoping that's the only call I get. Right now it's hard to imagine any news before then being good news. Crap happens in jails, and he was told to expect this one to be more of a prison. Plus the indoor captive population sharing whatever microbes might be available during this uneasy time. Almost the only thing worse might be the homeless shelter population, housed in a large dorm style room with crowded bunks. Many are elderly, handicapped, and considering their economic circumstances, bereft of healthcare and loaded with preexisting conditions.
Rich actually thought jail might be a healthier place to be for the next two weeks.
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Adventures In Caronavirus Land, Episode 3
Steve and I went to our local grocery store yesterday afternoon. It was time to do some stocking up. Staples. Too much of what we eat is perishable, so if things go as south as many fear, frequent grocery shopping may not be what we can or wish to do. Besides, the store sends out coupons, one of which was for $7 off a shopping trip of $70 or more. It turned out either of us could have used it. Between the two of us, we spent nearly $250.
The store was a zoo. Parking was available at the far ends of the lot and store aisles were packed. Shelves, not so much. Two things stood out. First, toilet paper was out. Discussion ensued between shopping strangers, with a lot of head scratching as to possible reasons why. Had people heard the word "flu" and decided that meant the type involving hours on the ivory throne? The fellow behind me in our long wait to check out discussed alternatives. No leaves down here exist without thorns somehow being involved. But hey, no poison ivy around either.
The easy answer is using paper towels or napkins, or baby wipes if still on the shelves (neither of us had checked out that part of the store, go figure), and disposing of them into a bag for the garbage so no worries about the sewers blocking up. It seems everything that grows down here sends masses of roots far and wide, especially into sewers which are frequently the only regular source of moisture. Fertilizer too. But mostly water. And when your sewers went in in '61, every plumber who scopes them tells you yours are hopelessly shattered and entangled with roots, but for only $______, they'd fix it right away for you. I'm sure the fix would last almost as long as they expect any of us to in this lovely seniors community.
The other surprising empty shelf space was in the soda crackers section. ???? Soda crackers? Really? Maybe it's those same people who think the coming "flu" is the intestinal variety and all they'll feel like eating is soda crackers. Hmmm. I didn't think to check if that affected the supply of chicken soup as well. I was stocking up on chili myself, which was my excuse for looking for soda crackers, and not chicken soup.
The local evening news brought another surprise last night. No, not Trump's attempt to appear competent which of course showed his concerns were financial and personal image than feeling anything for (fellow?) humans. This time the news informed us that our neighboring senior community, Sun City West, was closing down for a couple weeks starting tonight at 5PM. One day's warning for whatever was needed. Reasoning given was that 45% of their residents are over 75, and thus the most vulnerable population to covid 19. This was just one announcement among those for TV shows planning to air without audiences, basketball pausing their schedules, or sports events occurring in empty arenas... and on and on.
We figure Sun City will likely follow suit soon. As a club officer (secretary, what else?) I contacted our president to make sure she'd heard, and what did the club need to plan for in the event? She responded she'd been at a concert that evening and the audience was very sparse. Most of the concert-goers were discussing the SCW announcement of closure, and would it happen to us? As president, the governing body would contact her first, and she will be getting the club email list on a thumb drive and taking it home so she can contact us from home. I verified this morning on my way in to the club that when the centers close, absolutely nobody except employees can enter. Those little electronic discs that many of us have to open club doors will be locked out of the system, a good thing because I can forsee many of our members deciding to let themselves into the club for a little time on whatever equipment in the peace and quiet. You know, each thinking it'll be safe because nobody else would have that same idea.... Uh huh. Nobody.
Some of our members will be heading north soon. They worry about travel plans, particularly if they flew down, and particularly about returning to Canada or the UK. With our half-assed response in regards to few test kits being available, what happens on the home end for them? Forget our letting others cross our borders. Without sufficient testing, how many countries will shut us out?
Club-wise there is another complication for many. Not all of us own where we live. For those renting or leasing by the month rather than year round, rules require that once they are no longer in residence, their membership ends for all community center activities. therefore all jewelry in the store must be removed, one of the privileges they lose till next time they're down here. If they plan to head out soon, and must purge their items, will any closing announcement give them enough time to get their things? And for those who don't use email, can we contact them in time?
In all the discussions this morning in the club on the possible closing, I was -silly me - surprised at the loud voiced insisting any such thing was way over reacting. "If People want to risk coming in, they should be able to." Nevermind community protection extending beyond personal. "Nobody should be able to tell me what to do and where I can or can't go." Again, nevermind community contagion. It's never just one's self to consider. If I risk getting hurt by, say, climbing a tree (dream on!), that's one thing. I doesn't necessarily affect anybody else. A virus is like risking what may happen to others when someone gets behind the wheel drunk or on drugs. It's no longer just one person. It's even worse than that since it spreads exponentially.
We're not panicking. We are taking considered actions and thinking about sensible options. Hopefully, you are as well.
I wish to add that not all life circles around covid 19. I've not finished with purging photos yet, but those combined 20,000 are now down under 5,000. This is the 4th? 5th? purge before I transfer everything on to one machine.
I love the new herringbone wire pattern, and have been working nonstop with it, first for bracelets, and yesterday starting on earrings, pausing occasionally due to sore thumbs from pushing wires into positions. It's a hand created pattern, not tool made for the most part.
It's been raining down here, and expected to continue a few days yet. It's been lovely, except for those visitors expecting to watch spring training or some such. I had enough warning to put out a little fertilizer around plants I thought could use it. My tiny aloes are blooming, the large ones starting to push up their flowering stalks. Tiny ones bloom in orange, large, including the gift ones, yellow. None have actually died yet this time around.
Unfortunately, the same holds true for those weeds I hit with round-up last week.
The elephant agave at the northeast corner of the house suddenly shot up a flowering stalk. It's a bit crooked. The first day I noticed it, it pushed up under the eave, so I pulled it forward, away from the house a bit, so it could clear that and grow. Grow it did, and the next thing I knew our neighbor was knocking on our door letting me know it was pushing up on the shingles.
Yep, he was right.
Except it was "shingle", singular, not "shingles."
It's about another 14" higher now, and despite curving each time it reaches the slightest impediment, it is now so hard and determined to hog its claimed space that it can't be pulled away from the roof enough to fold the shingle back down between the end of the eave and the stalk. At least it's not raining or anything.
Oh wait. That was thunder, wasn't it?
The stalk is lined with buds, a hair lighter green than the stalk. Once they open, we'll know what color they flower. The stalk is also lined with, well, maybe leaves. They are flush with the stalk, vertical for about 3 1/2", pink in the center, and about half an inch wise at their bases. You know me: photos have been taken. Perhaps a dozen so far.
This particular agave stalk produces plantlets, not seeds. This means when mature they can be removed from the stalk and planted. Note to self: this time do NOT plant them with the center under the roof. Those stalks can reach 25 feet! And no, while I did read that back just after it was planted, I was in no way inspired to dig it out and relocate it.
Have you seen those spines on that sucker?
Yikes! Worst in the yard, even more than that foothills palo verde. At least those can be pruned so must of the nasty bits are out of reach so long as you're careful. Any time I want to get close enough to the elephant agave to take a photo, I have to ver-r-r-r-ry carefully move between each blade.
So far so good.
The store was a zoo. Parking was available at the far ends of the lot and store aisles were packed. Shelves, not so much. Two things stood out. First, toilet paper was out. Discussion ensued between shopping strangers, with a lot of head scratching as to possible reasons why. Had people heard the word "flu" and decided that meant the type involving hours on the ivory throne? The fellow behind me in our long wait to check out discussed alternatives. No leaves down here exist without thorns somehow being involved. But hey, no poison ivy around either.
The easy answer is using paper towels or napkins, or baby wipes if still on the shelves (neither of us had checked out that part of the store, go figure), and disposing of them into a bag for the garbage so no worries about the sewers blocking up. It seems everything that grows down here sends masses of roots far and wide, especially into sewers which are frequently the only regular source of moisture. Fertilizer too. But mostly water. And when your sewers went in in '61, every plumber who scopes them tells you yours are hopelessly shattered and entangled with roots, but for only $______, they'd fix it right away for you. I'm sure the fix would last almost as long as they expect any of us to in this lovely seniors community.
The other surprising empty shelf space was in the soda crackers section. ???? Soda crackers? Really? Maybe it's those same people who think the coming "flu" is the intestinal variety and all they'll feel like eating is soda crackers. Hmmm. I didn't think to check if that affected the supply of chicken soup as well. I was stocking up on chili myself, which was my excuse for looking for soda crackers, and not chicken soup.
The local evening news brought another surprise last night. No, not Trump's attempt to appear competent which of course showed his concerns were financial and personal image than feeling anything for (fellow?) humans. This time the news informed us that our neighboring senior community, Sun City West, was closing down for a couple weeks starting tonight at 5PM. One day's warning for whatever was needed. Reasoning given was that 45% of their residents are over 75, and thus the most vulnerable population to covid 19. This was just one announcement among those for TV shows planning to air without audiences, basketball pausing their schedules, or sports events occurring in empty arenas... and on and on.
We figure Sun City will likely follow suit soon. As a club officer (secretary, what else?) I contacted our president to make sure she'd heard, and what did the club need to plan for in the event? She responded she'd been at a concert that evening and the audience was very sparse. Most of the concert-goers were discussing the SCW announcement of closure, and would it happen to us? As president, the governing body would contact her first, and she will be getting the club email list on a thumb drive and taking it home so she can contact us from home. I verified this morning on my way in to the club that when the centers close, absolutely nobody except employees can enter. Those little electronic discs that many of us have to open club doors will be locked out of the system, a good thing because I can forsee many of our members deciding to let themselves into the club for a little time on whatever equipment in the peace and quiet. You know, each thinking it'll be safe because nobody else would have that same idea.... Uh huh. Nobody.
Some of our members will be heading north soon. They worry about travel plans, particularly if they flew down, and particularly about returning to Canada or the UK. With our half-assed response in regards to few test kits being available, what happens on the home end for them? Forget our letting others cross our borders. Without sufficient testing, how many countries will shut us out?
Club-wise there is another complication for many. Not all of us own where we live. For those renting or leasing by the month rather than year round, rules require that once they are no longer in residence, their membership ends for all community center activities. therefore all jewelry in the store must be removed, one of the privileges they lose till next time they're down here. If they plan to head out soon, and must purge their items, will any closing announcement give them enough time to get their things? And for those who don't use email, can we contact them in time?
In all the discussions this morning in the club on the possible closing, I was -silly me - surprised at the loud voiced insisting any such thing was way over reacting. "If People want to risk coming in, they should be able to." Nevermind community protection extending beyond personal. "Nobody should be able to tell me what to do and where I can or can't go." Again, nevermind community contagion. It's never just one's self to consider. If I risk getting hurt by, say, climbing a tree (dream on!), that's one thing. I doesn't necessarily affect anybody else. A virus is like risking what may happen to others when someone gets behind the wheel drunk or on drugs. It's no longer just one person. It's even worse than that since it spreads exponentially.
We're not panicking. We are taking considered actions and thinking about sensible options. Hopefully, you are as well.
I wish to add that not all life circles around covid 19. I've not finished with purging photos yet, but those combined 20,000 are now down under 5,000. This is the 4th? 5th? purge before I transfer everything on to one machine.
I love the new herringbone wire pattern, and have been working nonstop with it, first for bracelets, and yesterday starting on earrings, pausing occasionally due to sore thumbs from pushing wires into positions. It's a hand created pattern, not tool made for the most part.
It's been raining down here, and expected to continue a few days yet. It's been lovely, except for those visitors expecting to watch spring training or some such. I had enough warning to put out a little fertilizer around plants I thought could use it. My tiny aloes are blooming, the large ones starting to push up their flowering stalks. Tiny ones bloom in orange, large, including the gift ones, yellow. None have actually died yet this time around.
Unfortunately, the same holds true for those weeds I hit with round-up last week.
The elephant agave at the northeast corner of the house suddenly shot up a flowering stalk. It's a bit crooked. The first day I noticed it, it pushed up under the eave, so I pulled it forward, away from the house a bit, so it could clear that and grow. Grow it did, and the next thing I knew our neighbor was knocking on our door letting me know it was pushing up on the shingles.
Yep, he was right.
Except it was "shingle", singular, not "shingles."
It's about another 14" higher now, and despite curving each time it reaches the slightest impediment, it is now so hard and determined to hog its claimed space that it can't be pulled away from the roof enough to fold the shingle back down between the end of the eave and the stalk. At least it's not raining or anything.
Oh wait. That was thunder, wasn't it?
The stalk is lined with buds, a hair lighter green than the stalk. Once they open, we'll know what color they flower. The stalk is also lined with, well, maybe leaves. They are flush with the stalk, vertical for about 3 1/2", pink in the center, and about half an inch wise at their bases. You know me: photos have been taken. Perhaps a dozen so far.
This particular agave stalk produces plantlets, not seeds. This means when mature they can be removed from the stalk and planted. Note to self: this time do NOT plant them with the center under the roof. Those stalks can reach 25 feet! And no, while I did read that back just after it was planted, I was in no way inspired to dig it out and relocate it.
Have you seen those spines on that sucker?
Yikes! Worst in the yard, even more than that foothills palo verde. At least those can be pruned so must of the nasty bits are out of reach so long as you're careful. Any time I want to get close enough to the elephant agave to take a photo, I have to ver-r-r-r-ry carefully move between each blade.
So far so good.
Monday, March 9, 2020
Adventures In Caronavirus Land, Episode 2
Today was the club General Membership meeting. And pot luck. Always, "and pot luck." The members actually rebel should anybody have the audacity to hold the business meeting before the food is served.
Yes, that happened.
Of course, these days we have to consider the extra risks of eating communal food besides, say, ordinary salmonella or e coli. Do we actually want to expose ourselves to the new virus? After all, we are in the vulnerable age group as well as having an abundance of health issues, either ourselves or our partners. And there are a reported 5 cases in the state as of this morning. And still virtually no testing.
With that in mind, I hit the grocery store for my usual veggie tray. I almost never cook anything myself for those pot lucks. I have to trust the food handlers to follow health precautions when preparing the trays. But I decided to offer another precaution for my fellow club members. I bought a new plastic set of tongs, and once at the club, washed them in their kitchen before setting out the food.
I added a piece of tape on the handle with my initials so I'd get them back, but by the time I got to the table after the meeting, the tongs, along with all other silverware, had been gathered up for cleaning and "returning" to the kitchen supplies. I did finally find the stack and recovered mine for next time. I figure they'll be even more useful then.
Virus precautions figured in another way. The head of the line, usually starting with paper and plastic items, started instead with a giant bottle of hand sanitizer. Somebody actually found one before the crowds emptied the stores!
Concerns were on our club President's mind as well, concerning our April meeting. A rules change was proposed this meeting, and following procedure, members were given a month to weigh the issue and come to a decision before voting. But how many people would actually attend then? We need a quorum of 20 voters, and well over that number raised their hands indicating planned attendance. Likely every one but the snowbirds returning north before then.
But perhaps.... Much can change in a month.
If necessary, the vote will happen for the October meeting.
Yes, that happened.
Of course, these days we have to consider the extra risks of eating communal food besides, say, ordinary salmonella or e coli. Do we actually want to expose ourselves to the new virus? After all, we are in the vulnerable age group as well as having an abundance of health issues, either ourselves or our partners. And there are a reported 5 cases in the state as of this morning. And still virtually no testing.
With that in mind, I hit the grocery store for my usual veggie tray. I almost never cook anything myself for those pot lucks. I have to trust the food handlers to follow health precautions when preparing the trays. But I decided to offer another precaution for my fellow club members. I bought a new plastic set of tongs, and once at the club, washed them in their kitchen before setting out the food.
I added a piece of tape on the handle with my initials so I'd get them back, but by the time I got to the table after the meeting, the tongs, along with all other silverware, had been gathered up for cleaning and "returning" to the kitchen supplies. I did finally find the stack and recovered mine for next time. I figure they'll be even more useful then.
Virus precautions figured in another way. The head of the line, usually starting with paper and plastic items, started instead with a giant bottle of hand sanitizer. Somebody actually found one before the crowds emptied the stores!
Concerns were on our club President's mind as well, concerning our April meeting. A rules change was proposed this meeting, and following procedure, members were given a month to weigh the issue and come to a decision before voting. But how many people would actually attend then? We need a quorum of 20 voters, and well over that number raised their hands indicating planned attendance. Likely every one but the snowbirds returning north before then.
But perhaps.... Much can change in a month.
If necessary, the vote will happen for the October meeting.
Friday, March 6, 2020
Adventures In Coronavirus Land, Episode 1
Since this is going to be changing on a daily basis, even though I'm not going to keep posting that often, I'm going to "date mark" these postings by the world as we know it now, followed by personal status and observations.
Latest - not number counts, because who can keep up? - is it's spreading in the US, and so many times along the way to here, so much has been botched in terms of not only treatments, tests and quarantines, but also "information" from sources either in the know or having the idiot mindset that believes saving face is primary (think Trump, natch), that the "panic" is spreading.
Reason and unreason are fighting for supremacy. Some 38% of us will avoid Corona beer, as if there were any possible connection other than fear of a name, and completely disregarding the alcohol content of the beer which would squelch any contagious particles which may have attempted to squeeze their way inside the bottles before capping, might COVID 19 have even been in the country when they were capped. Seriously: how stupid are we? (Oh wait, we have Trump in office. Nevermind.)
Information from actual health sources state that 15% of those who contract it may end up in the hospital. That's assuming there will be room in the hospitals, since they've been operating on a cash-flow basis to eliminate empty beds for a couple decades now. That's what for-profit healthcare gets us.
It will strike my generation hardest. Of the estimated 3+ % who are expected to die, those will also be concentrated in my generation. I still have things I want to do, but I've been lucky enough to have really enjoyed my last few years, and am particularly happy being with Steve. So I'm not panicking - yet - but am keeping as informed as possible.
There may be a bright spot on the horizon. When this hits the lungs, even those who survive, live with permanent lung damage. Shortness of breath, limited activities, O2... and no doubt susceptibility to whatever next thing happens. OK, where's the bright spot in that, you ask? The possibility of treating patients with meds developed for AIDS patients is being investigated, and early word (rumors?) is they are in process and stop the lung damage in its tracks. We'll see. Of course, this raises the question, even if it is a dependable treatment, of both its availability and cost. Particularly in our health system. Can we afford to live? Who chooses where it gets distributed? Will we allow the cost to skyrocket just because of demand and some sociopath who sees a profit? It's happening elsewhere, if you haven't been unlucky enough to notice.
So, personal observations and reactions:
I went shopping last night at WalMart. I needed bar soap for the shower. I had Zest on my mind, as it saves water by not requiring extra rinsing. I settled for Irish Spring. No Zest on the shelf. No Dial. No anything antibacterial (hey, virus ain't bacteria folks!). My search had led me through both grocery and pharmacy departments. Grocery aisles were devoid of hand sanitizer, as expected. Empty shelves bore price tags for Lysol and similar products, bleaches, bleach wipes, anything that held hope of avoiding contagion for the shoppers. Pharmacy was also sold out of rubbing alcohol and a host of other products. I admit, this was late in the evening. Stock pallets were sprawled all over, blocking easy passage down the aisles, so maybe only the shelves were out of stock and more product was stored in the back. Maybe.
My particular searches did not take me to all the places where overheard discussions had listed experiences by relatives and friends around the country of lack of water, paper products, certain food staples, or anything else needed for everybody's assumed future quarantines. But then, Arizona has only 2 known cases right now, and both persons are in quarantine, with any known contacts monitored. Not tested yet, but monitored. Maybe next week there will be a better supply of test kits.
Maybe it'll rain here too.
I had a chat with another woman I knew from the club when I ran into her in a different part of town this morning. She, with her extended family, have planned a trip with her church to Israel for later this month. Outlay thus far, $27,000. Two of the excursions once there have been canceled. No refunds available. Air travel involves a transfer to another airline after crossing the pond, but that airline canceled, again no refund. She contacted the first airline to see if she could cancel that, just checking out options, and the only thing they offered was rebooking within 7-9 days of the scheduled trip.
The family is still trying to figure out what to do. One son suggested they go anyway, find other events for their itinerary. (Not sure about that second leg of the flight.) Then the question arose: would they be allowed to return to the US after the trip? His comment was that this country "would never leave any of us stranded in a foreign country."
Hmmm, has he paid attention to Trump? Maybe Cheetolini has a hunch about this too, eh?
Is the son talking about the Marines or something? Because I know they never leave anybody behind, but ordinary folk? Under these circumstances? Or was he just assuming they'll be let back but quarantined? She has spoken to another friend who's been quarantined after one of those cruise ships, and said conditions here were terrible. No real healthcare, not enough food or water.... The term used was "concentration camp."
So reassuring.... NOT.
On a more personal level, Steve and I are planning a major trip hitting national parks on both the way north and others on the way south this summer. So far, besides a visit with his brother's family, Monument Valley, Moab area and Arches, Yellowstone, Greeley area and Rocky Mountain, Teddy Roosevelt, Glacier, and whatever else strikes our fancy. But what will be open then? We had been thinking kind of a "last chance tour", going while health held and budget could deal, but we hadn't thought of last chance in the way it now might be.
I previously mentioned a couple of punch biopsies. I had wondered whether they might reveal something else that would make me more susceptible to anything. Luckily, results came back today. There were a long, complicated couple of words for what I have, but those were drowned out by just one: "benign." Long sigh. Anyway, the medication she put me on should do the trick for whatever it is called.
So, questions galore, answers perhaps to come. That's why I called this "Episode 1." Meanwhile, I just got introduced to a new jewelry pattern this morning....
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Blue No Matter Who
To all you folks out there who actually realize this country can barely afford Trump now, but are still squabbling over which is the best, aka ONLY, candidate to oppose him, understand that if for any reason voter turnout is suppressed or indifferent, Trump wins again!
Gulp!
ABSOLUTELY the only thing to do is turn out, bring our neighbors, relatives and friends, send in those early votes, after making SURE your registration hasn't been screwed up for whatever reason. Your vote counts! Whether it's Bernie or Biden, or against all odds, even Warren, my personal favorite, get your behinds out there and vote!
Vote Blue no matter who!!!!
In the primaries, vote for whoever it is that warms your heart. But this fall, vote your head. Don't grumble yourself away from the polls because the nominee isn't your one and only heartthrob. Your vote, along with each and everybody else's, is the one which will stop 2016 from happening again.
There will be all sorts of excuses. There always are. But this time, NO EXCUSE IS A GOOD ENOUGH EXCUSE. Unless perhaps you are dead well ahead of time.
Try not to let that happen, eh?
* * * * *
Heard from TV:
MAGA: "God gave us Trump."
Reply: "What? Did he run out of locusts?"
Gulp!
ABSOLUTELY the only thing to do is turn out, bring our neighbors, relatives and friends, send in those early votes, after making SURE your registration hasn't been screwed up for whatever reason. Your vote counts! Whether it's Bernie or Biden, or against all odds, even Warren, my personal favorite, get your behinds out there and vote!
Vote Blue no matter who!!!!
In the primaries, vote for whoever it is that warms your heart. But this fall, vote your head. Don't grumble yourself away from the polls because the nominee isn't your one and only heartthrob. Your vote, along with each and everybody else's, is the one which will stop 2016 from happening again.
There will be all sorts of excuses. There always are. But this time, NO EXCUSE IS A GOOD ENOUGH EXCUSE. Unless perhaps you are dead well ahead of time.
Try not to let that happen, eh?
* * * * *
Heard from TV:
MAGA: "God gave us Trump."
Reply: "What? Did he run out of locusts?"
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